Black holes — and the physics and dreams of Albert

Albert Sneppen dreams — sometimes — of his research:

I am sitting on top of a black hole. Its surface is of the purest darkness. I look up at a luminous night sky filled with blue stars.

The dream is described in the just-published book Black Holes [in Danish: ‘Sorte huller’], which astrophysicist Albert Sneppen has written in collaboration with journalist Jonas Kuld Rathje over the course of the last three years. In the book Albert Sneppen talks about how he works with, and reflects on the scientific mysteries associated with the darkest — and heaviest — places in the universe.

A black hole is not a thing, according to Albert Sneppen, but a location. And there is so much that we don’t know about them yet. More people should take an interest in them, he says, and start doing research on them.

»We have so many data sets available nowadays, but no researchers have had time to look at them yet. There are, for example, many data sets from the James Webb telescope that could contain a real treasure trove of information. I wish more people were aware of how much work remains to be done«.

This University Post reporter is with Albert Sneppen in his room at the Regensen dormitory in central Copenhagen. Here he has a direct view of the medieval Round Tower. He actually has access to it outside closing hours as he, as an astrophysicist and resident of the dormitory, has been given a key to the old building so he can visit the observatory at the top whenever he feels the need.

In 14 months time, he will be finished with his three-year PhD — which he started when he was 24 years old — trying to understand which heavy elements are formed when two neutron stars merge together. Astrophysicists reckon that approximately half of the universe’s heavy elements are formed when neutron stars are merged into a black hole.

»I’m quite fascinated at the moment by the idea that heavy atomic nuclei, which are nuclei heavier than iron, are created in this type of explosion. We have been able to prove that two of them – strontium and yttrium – were formed on that occasion. And we have also found a method that allows us to see the moment they are created,« says Sneppen.

A black hole is a weird thing

Albert Sneppen graduated in physics from the University of Copenhagen in 2022, but he had already attracted media attention for his research while he was a student.

This included inventing a new measurement method to determine the expansion rate of the universe that was published in the Journal of Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Albert Sneppen has an unusual ability to think both innovatively, and deeply, within physics, and he likes to think about several problems at once. At the moment, in his PhD, he is in the process of solving the formation of very heavy elements in the universe. At the same time, he hopes soon to be able to ascertain black holes’ time of birth – to within 0.02 seconds precision.

»The formation of a black hole is such a weird phenomenon. There was once somewhere that was part of our universe. But then a black hole arises and we can never see that region of the universe again. I think that we, in my research group, have invented a way to measure that transition – that is, the moment a black hole is created,« says Sneppen.

Aren’t equations just beautiful?

In the Black Holes book, Albert Sneppen talks about his own thoughts on astrophysics, and how he works when doing research. And he offers an overview of some of the phenomena that we now know are linked to the universe’s black holes.

The driving force in his working life is the beauty he finds in research, he says: In the mathematics, in the astrophysics and in the universe. Is there anything more beautiful, for example, than being able to describe the largest thing in the universe by means of a simple equation? Not according to Albert Sneppen.

He does not, he says, have some kind of superpower in understanding the mathematics and physics. Indeed, he has never understood a mathematical equation right away. He needs to work with it for a long time.

In his own estimation, he probably just exploits an ability to tirelessly dig deeper and deeper into the same subject for a long period of time.

»The way I see it, everything you spend an incredible amount of time on, you end up being good at. I also find my work fun,« says Albert Sneppen.

When asked who it is that he has written the book for, it turns out that he disagrees with his publisher.

»The publisher [Turbine, ed.] joked that the book is written for a ‘nerdy dad’ type. But my hope is that it is the 14-year-old girls that get their hands on it. In this way my way of working with research can inspire other people to become researchers,« says Albert Sneppen.

Like Sherlock without a crime to solve

He himself needs something to do all the time, because he really can’t cope with not having anything lined up.

»I’m going to feel a bit like Sherlock Holmes, who in an episode of the TV series Sherlock was about to go mad because he didn’t have a crime to solve. I myself feel like I am eating myself up from the inside when I can’t find anything to work with. I’m simply not thriving,« says Albert Sneppen.

He considers himself lucky that he has been born at a time when research into black holes has just had a breakthrough. Astrophysicists were still uncertain as to whether they existed at all into the 1960s. And astronomers first discovered a black hole in the universe in 1971.

Their explorations have gained momentum over the past five to ten years however, the same time as Albert Sneppen was in secondary school and started studying physics.

»The development of the field today is a result of the fact that others invested in their exploration 40 to 20 years ago. That’s why I can get to see the whole spectrum, from high-energy gamma waves to radio waves. And I count myself really lucky to be here at this moment, right when we’re starting to see the universe in brand new detail«.