Scientists from the United States and Japan have suggested that primordial black holes colliding with neutron stars could be the source of chemical elements such as gold, silver, platinum and uranium. An article supporting the hypothesis was published in Physical Review Letters.
The origin of heavy elements in the Universe has long been a controversial issue. Traditionally, elements heavier than iron are thought to form during supernova explosions. The authors of the article propose a new hypothesis on how heavy elements could have arisen.
According to the authors of the work, when a neutron star collides with a black hole, it gets inside the black hole and accelerates its rotation. At the same time, fragments with a high content of neutrons fly off from it. It is possible that all the heavier elements are formed in these fragments.
The authors of the hypothesis admit that the probability that a black hole will "catch" a neutron star is small. This is also confirmed by the results of observations, according to which only a small number of galaxies contain many heavy elements.
