The black hole bomb, and black hole civilizations

[Spaceception]

Hey guys, I was watching this video, and thinking it would be a cool science fiction topic. I don't think I've heard of getting energy from a black hole this way before, but is it plausible?

(This is worthy of a thread right? Or should this have been in the "For questions that don't merit their own thread" or the "Serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions" thread(s)?)

 

Anyway, here's the video.

[radonek]

Yes, it's definitely plausible. There is also second kind of singularity bomb - black holes evaporate, losing mass and releasing it as energy. It's a  very slow process at stellar-sized black holes, but it gets faster as black hole gets smaller, exponentially. Terminal phase is so fast it makes for a huge explosion. 

[Spaceception]

23 minutes ago, radonek said:

Yes, it's definitely plausible. There is also second kind of singularity bomb - black holes evaporate, losing mass and releasing it as energy. It's a  very slow process at stellar-sized black holes, but it gets faster as black hole gets smaller, exponentially. Terminal phase is so fast it makes for a huge explosion. 

I read in one of the comments that the mirror would heat up if it didn't have perfect reflectivity too. I'm sure that's true, but it wouldn't be instant, so they would probably let it get to a certain threshold before harnessing the captured energy, right?

[DAL59]

So THIS is what the core explosion was in Ringworld.  

This is how you defeat a galaxy: send an armada to the center bh, build a mirror, and boom. 

[YNM]

I think I'd object over the "power up" mechanism. A group of light can't be described as a "particle" or an "object". If you were to attempt it amd it works, there got to be another process, ie. in Hawking radiation, it's a matter-antimatter pair.

But I don't know.

[radonek]

9 hours ago, Spaceception said:

I read in one of the comments that the mirror would heat up if it didn't have perfect reflectivity too. I'm sure that's true, but it wouldn't be instant, so they would probably let it get to a certain threshold before harnessing the captured energy, right?

Well, it's very efficient process, so it would melt your generic mirror prety fast. But that is just engineering problem, and I'm sure anyone with technology to fool around black hole also knows a trick or two with optics.

[YNM]

39 minutes ago, radonek said:

Well, it's very efficient process, so it would melt your generic mirror prety fast. But that is just engineering problem...

What mirror would reflect γ-rays ?

[kerbiloid]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation#Black_hole_evaporation

Quote

So, for instance, a 1-second-life black hole has a mass of 2.28×10⁵ kg, equivalent to an energy of 2.05×10²² J that could be released by 5×10⁶ megatons of TNT. 

Don't try to do this at home.

[Scotius]

Fans of Stargate TV series know how to properly weaponise a black hole Just saying

[KG3]

9 hours ago, YNM said:

What mirror would reflect γ-rays ?

That's exactly what I was thinking.  The photons would wander through the mirror once they had enough energy.

[kerbiloid]

11 hours ago, YNM said:

What mirror would reflect γ-rays ?

Gravitational.

Make blackhole curve your rays. Or a pack of blackholes.

But can anybody explain how to carry this whole device when it either weights as a whole planet, or lives for several seconds?

Edited April 25, 2018 by kerbiloid

[YNM]

10 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Gravitational.

Make blackhole curve your rays. 

Then how does the whole thing even works in the first place ?

This is what I'm having problemS with.

[kerbiloid]

1 hour ago, YNM said:

Then how does the whole thing even works in the first place ?

It works?

I just mentioned the afaik only known way to make a gamma mirror.

So, why limit ourselves with the only black hole? Let it be twin, with flows of gamma rays in shape of 8.

Anyway I can't see how would one transport it if it has a moon-scale mass, and which target is going to be destroyed with such energy.

And where to get the energy to move this blackmoon to another star system.
Probably, from antimatter. Then isn't it much easier to use this antimatter directly, without blackholing.

This, in turn, raises next question: as in any case (BH or AM) almost total energy will be lost in space, why make this Überdevice?

Edited April 26, 2018 by kerbiloid

[YNM]

22 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

I just mentioned the afaik only known way to make a gamma mirror.

Yeah, but to the whole concept.

22 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

And where to get the energy to move this blackmoon to another star system.

You don't need to move it anywhere, it's just a galaxy-wide death star.

[kerbiloid]

3 hours ago, YNM said:

You don't need to move it anywhere, it's just a galaxy-wide death star.

Now it's clear what are quasars. Failures..

[DAL59]

5 hours ago, YNM said:

, it's just a galaxy-wide death star.

Don't give Abrams any ideas!