Micro black holes, also called mini black holes or quantum mechanical black holes, are hypothetical tiny (<1 M☉) black holes, for which quantum mechanical effects play an important role.[1] The concept that black holes may exist that are smaller than stellar mass was introduced in 1971 by Stephen Hawking.[2]
It is possible that such black holes were created in the high-density environment of the early Universe (or Big Bang), or possibly through subsequent phase transitions (referred to as primordial black holes). They might be observed by astrophysicists through the particles they are expected to emit by Hawking radiation.[3]
Some hypotheses involving additional space dimensions predict that micro black holes could be formed at energies as low as the TeV range, which are available in particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider. Popular concerns have then been raised over end-of-the-world scenarios (see Safety of particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider). However, such quantum black holes would instantly evaporate, either totally or leaving only a very weakly interacting residue.[citation needed] Beside the theoretical arguments, cosmic rays hitting the Earth do not produce any damage, although they reach energies in the range of hundreds of TeV.
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