Nuclear Fusion in the Singularity

[Th_Kramer]

TL;DR Summary

I'm wondering if it would be possible to have nuclear fusion of very heavy atoms in the singularity of a black hole, and as a bonus, another question about a hypothetical situation.

Would it be possible for Black Holes to undergo nuclear fusion of materials with very high atomic numbers (above 118 or the majority of known atoms) in their singularity, producing any signs, including photons across the spectrum? Furthermore, I was thinking aloud and wondering, what prevents the contained energy from becoming so immense that at some point in this fusion, black holes end up causing a kind of 'supernova' and scattering their matter around?

 

[Orodruin]

The singularity is not a place, it is more like a moment in the future.

 

[FactChecker]

Stars can do it and it can happen in the accretion disk of a black hole. See this.

 

[Vanadium 50]

The singularity is a mathematical concept, not a physical one. But even if it were a physical one, as @Orodruin points out, it is more like a time than a place.

Since no information can ever get out, how could we possibly tell? And if we can't tell, how do we investigate it scientifically?

 

[Ibix]

You're probably thinking of the singularity as a point of infinite density. Unfortunately, this is a very wrong picture of what the singularity inside a black hole is - as others have noted, it's more like a moment in time than a place in space.

Is it possible that super-heavy elements form inside a black hole from collisions between infalling matter? Possibly - not very likely, IMO. Accretion discs and stars seem more likely candidates. It'd all be ripped apart again before reaching the singularity anyway. And no, transforming energy from one form to another changes nothing about the black hole.

 

[Baluncore]

Would it be possible for Black Holes to undergo nuclear fusion of materials with very high atomic numbers (above 118 or the majority of known atoms) in their singularity, producing any signs, including photons across the spectrum?

What happens when you feed a neutron star, and is that fusion?
What is the atomic weight of a neutron star?

 

[Hornbein]

What happens when you feed a neutron star, and is that fusion?
What is the atomic weight of a neutron star?

Atoms do not exist in the core of a neutron star. It's mostly smushed together neutrons plus some protons, electrons, kaons.

When hydrogen falls onto the surface it accumulates until there is a starwide thermonuclear explosion as it fuses. Eventually it fuses to iron I guess. Further down in the mantle are heavier elements. This is where uranium, gold, etc come from

 

[Hill]

What does QFT say about "spaghettified" quantum fields?