What Happens When a Black Hole Reaches the End of Its Life?

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SUMMARY

When a black hole nears the end of its life, it undergoes rapid evaporation, emitting visible light when its Schwarzschild radius approaches the wavelength of visible light, specifically around 500 nm. At this point, the black hole's mass is approximately 3 x 1017 tonnes, with a power output of 3 nW and a lifespan estimated at 1028 times the age of the universe. For black holes with an initial mass of a few hundred million tonnes, the emitted power can reach 10 GW, resulting in a final energy release equivalent to a few hundred tonnes. This phenomenon, while smaller than many astrophysical events, is significantly more powerful than the largest nuclear weapons.

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  • Understanding of Schwarzschild radius and its implications
  • Basic knowledge of black hole physics
  • Familiarity with particle physics, including gravitons and neutrinos
  • Awareness of astrophysical event scales and energy measurements
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  • Research the calculations behind Schwarzschild radius and its significance in black hole evaporation
  • Explore the relationship between black hole mass and emitted radiation
  • Study the types of particles emitted during black hole evaporation, focusing on their properties
  • Investigate the implications of black hole evaporation on cosmic events and energy scales
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Astronomers, astrophysicists, and students of theoretical physics interested in black hole dynamics and cosmic phenomena.

nolxiii
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When a black hole is mostly evaporated and it starts to evaporate faster and faster, what will this look like? How big when they start to emit visible light and how long from then until finally gone? Will these be like cosmic level bursts or quiet fizzle?
 
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They start emitting visible light when their Schwarzschild radius is of the order of the wavelength of visible light. Here is a calculator. A Schwarzschild radius of 500 nm corresponds to a mass of 3*1017 tonnes, a power of 3 nW and a lifetime of 1028 times the age of the universe.

Black holes have to much smaller to evaporate today, with an initial mass of a few hundred million tonnes and an initial power of 10 GW emitted as light, gravitons, neutrinos, electrons, muons, pions and a few heavier particles and their antiparticles. In their last second they release an energy corresponding to a few hundred tonnes (don't trust the calculator that late as it doesn't consider the emission of massive particles). Much smaller than many other astrophysical events but still orders of magnitude larger than the largest nuclear weapons we have.
 
ty!
 

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