The Augereau black hole

[rfmcdpei]

I was pawing through Bayern last night when I came across a crew biography that stated that the Bayern's chief astrophysicist was responsible for the 2291 capture of a black hole at Augereau (a red dwarf system located between Neubayern and Queen Alice's Star).

Thoughts on the implications of this? The first thing that came to mind was Transhuman Space's quantum black holes. Might there be an equivalent to the British-sovereignty Hawking Station that's studying the black hole's power-generation and computing potential in this timeline? The French and the Germans each have outposts in this system, although it looks like the Germans (or was it the Bavarians at the time?) were the ones responsible for the capture.

 

[Anders]

I would guess the mass is on the order of 10^11 kg or more, making it microscopic but stable over multibillion year timescales. It would radiate Hawking radiation at 10^-7 W or less, making it pretty hard to see. It would likely be charged and kept in an electromagnetic trap to be manageable. Plausibly a research station would be in a parallel orbit, with smaller lab built around the trap.

I see a lot of interesting stutterwarp physics being done around it. Since stutterwarp discharge likely depends on the degree of spacetime curvature the locally intense curvature would make the black hole perfect to test various ideas about stutterwarps. I also wonder if it is possible to warp the hole itself around?

An interesting adventure possibility: something goes horribly, horribly wrong at one of the warp experiments and the hole detonates as a mini-supernova. Not only is everything in the system destroyed, some exotic remnants keep the system deadly radioactive. This cuts off the French Arm until the system can be traversed. It has to fend for itself, and have to deal with Kafers and other threats on its own. A bit of limited tugship contact can occur, but only as Trilon wills it. Meanwhile the rest of humanity tries to figure out what happened and if it is possible to weaponize black holes - if they could be turned into system-destroying mines it would make interstellar politics utterly different. Some people sensibly argue that we must avoid even researching this possibility, and do their best to prevent any exploration of Augerau.

Even without nasty detonations tiny black holes are very cool. If Dieter Bohl could find one, others can. Various organisations may pay well enough for finds to make it valuable for hole seekers to travel around with their gravscanners, trying to get the lucky break. And the little holes could crop up in the strangest - or most unsuitable - places. Imagine finding a hole in the Joi system, or near Stark. Or why not cheerfully orbiting *inside* Tirane (Ob. ref. David Brin's "Earth").

 

[rfmcdpei]

I see a lot of interesting stutterwarp physics being done around it. Since stutterwarp discharge likely depends on the degree of spacetime curvature the locally intense curvature would make the black hole perfect to test various ideas about stutterwarps. I also wonder if it is possible to warp the hole itself around?

Is information encoding or decryption possible using the stutterwarp drive? Stutterwarp is quantum tunnelling, after all ...

An interesting adventure possibility: something goes horribly, horribly wrong at one of the warp experiments and the hole detonates as a mini-supernova. Not only is everything in the system destroyed, some exotic remnants keep the system deadly radioactive. This cuts off the French Arm until the system can be traversed. It has to fend for itself, and have to deal with Kafers and other threats on its own. A bit of limited tugship contact can occur, but only as Trilon wills it. Meanwhile the rest of humanity tries to figure out what happened and if it is possible to weaponize black holes - if they could be turned into system-destroying mines it would make interstellar politics utterly different. Some people sensibly argue that we must avoid even researching this possibility, and do their best to prevent any exploration of Augerau.

How much energy would be stored by a quantum black hole? I'd imagine that there must be ways that a quantum-tunnelling drive like the stutterwarp could destabilize it. (Question: Would stutterwarp-drive ships be able to pass through the shells of energy put out by this collapse?)

On a related topic, you mentioned on your website something about stutterwarp tug routes to the French Arm takign a roundabout route by Xi Bootis. What's that about?

Even without nasty detonations tiny black holes are very cool. If Dieter Bohl could find one, others can. Various organisations may pay well enough for finds to make it valuable for hole seekers to travel around with their gravscanners, trying to get the lucky break.

I'd imagine the French would want their own.

And the little holes could crop up in the strangest - or most unsuitable - places. Imagine finding a hole in the Joi system, or near Stark. Or why not cheerfully orbiting *inside* Tirane (Ob. ref. David Brin's "Earth").

It's awfully kind for the Medusans to have left the Tiraneans the necessary prerequisite for gravity lasers.

 

[Anders]

Is information encoding or decryption possible using the stutterwarp drive? Stutterwarp is quantum tunnelling, after all ...

Well, the drive can be used to send gravity waves at the very least. Hmm, that does sound like the start for a gravity laser...

How much energy would be stored by a quantum black hole? I'd imagine that there must be ways that a quantum-tunnelling drive like the stutterwarp could destabilize it. (Question: Would stutterwarp-drive ships be able to pass through the shells of energy put out by this collapse?)

If it weighs 10^11 kg, the total mass-energy is around 9*10^27 J. If that gets released it would be about the same luminosity as a typical X-ray luminosity of an X-ray pulsar but still far below the supernova range. So to really explain a system-devastating explosion we have to submit to handwavy unknown physics. Maybe warping it left a naked singularity behind.

It should be possible to jump through the shell of energy, at least sufficiently far out. It will likely hit the ship since the thickness is probably going to be decently thick (a nanosecond is 30 centimeters, after all - a one second blast is going to be 300,000 km thick), but the intensity decreases with the inverse square of distance.

On a related topic, you mentioned on your website something about stutterwarp tug routes to the French Arm takign a roundabout route by Xi Bootis. What's that about?

Yes, there are a few routes. One is going from Nous Voila, Hochbaden or Kimanjano by DM+11 2576 to Xi Bootis, DM-7 4003, Wolf 629 and then to King.

Then there is Aurore, Wiseman or Nous Voila to Wolf 489, DM-11 3759 and Broward

It's awfully kind for the Medusans to have left the Tiraneans the necessary prerequisite for gravity lasers.

Just a protection from the common Enemy.

 

[rfmcdpei]

If it weighs 10^11 kg, the total mass-energy is around 9*10^27 J. If that gets released it would be about the same luminosity as a typical X-ray luminosity of an X-ray pulsar but still far below the supernova range. So to really explain a system-devastating explosion we have to submit to handwavy unknown physics. Maybe warping it left a naked singularity behind.

If we want to force human dependence on a Neubayern-Beowulf stutterwarp tug route, an accidental destabilization of the star Augereau would work. ("It turns out that a facility in close stellar orbit was a bad idea.")

It should be possible to jump through the shell of energy, at least sufficiently far out. It will likely hit the ship since the thickness is probably going to be decently thick (a nanosecond is 30 centimeters, after all - a one second blast is going to be 300,000 km thick), but the intensity decreases with the inverse square of distance.

So, for ships which need to discharge their stutterwarp at a substantial in-system mass like the star Augereau or one of its gas giants, until the shell of energy dissipates in strength it's going to be a prohibitive barrier?

Yes, there are a few routes. One is going from Nous Voila, Hochbaden or Kimanjano by DM+11 2576 to Xi Bootis, DM-7 4003, Wolf 629 and then to King.

Then there is Aurore, Wiseman or Nous Voila to Wolf 489, DM-11 3759 and Broward

Huh. That's really rather interesting. Xi Bootis got my interest--it's an Alpha Centaur-like pairing of yellow dwarf with an orange dwarf, only with a wider separation than a Cen. As I recall, it's not stutterwarp-accessible.

 

[Anders]

If we want to force human dependence on a Neubayern-Beowulf stutterwarp tug route, an accidental destabilization of the star Augereau would work. ("It turns out that a facility in close stellar orbit _was_ a bad idea.")

"The good news is, we have a macroscopic black hole to study now! And we know that black holes can absorb stars very quickly."

Of course, if Augereau implodes mankind has bigger problems than stutterwarp routes. It won't be a gamma-ray burst, but probably something on the order of a supernova. A supernova that will in 17 years and 97 days wipe out the ozone layer and cause a major mass extinction on Earth (and Tirane). Suddenly many of the remote colonies look awfully comfortable...

Of course, even if the star implodes the planets will be left (slightly charred). So one could go there to discharge anyway, if one doesn't mind the radiation. The really nasty possibility is that there is an accretion disk left behind, radiating intense X-rays.

Hmm, actually, if the hole was dropped into a gas giant we might get a detonation that is just on the nova level, and leaves an accretion disk. It may all depend on how good radiation shielding spaceships have whether the system is inpassable in that case.

 

[rfmcdpei]

Of course, if Augereau implodes mankind has bigger problems than stutterwarp routes. It won't be a gamma-ray burst, but probably something on the order of a supernova. A supernova that will in 17 years and 97 days wipe out the ozone layer and cause a major mass extinction on Earth (and Tirane).

Point. Extinction-level events aren't very fun.

I'd feel especially sad for the poor people at Beowulf and Niebelungen. At least that last colony has a lot of shipyards.

Suddenly many of the remote colonies look awfully comfortable...

Uncomfortable jokes are made on Kanata, during flare-time in the shelters, about how safe their world is.

Hmm, actually, if the hole was dropped into a gas giant we might get a detonation that is just on the nova level, and leaves an accretion disk.

This is probably a more playable option.

It may all depend on how good radiation shielding spaceships have whether the system is inpassable in that case.

And the system's surroundings. I don't know how long it would take for the radiation produced by the Augereau Event to diminish to stutterwarp-traversable levels, but it would probably correspond to a distance on the order of light years.