Supermassive black holes share a surprising link with subatomic gluon 'color glass walls'

Artist's illustration of a supermassive black hole shows a large circular black void on the right with swirls of blue, pink and orange gathering toward the center.

Scientists have discovered a surprising connection between the supermassive black holes that dwell at the hearts of most galaxies and dense walls of subatomic particles called gluons.

In terms of size, they couldn't be more different: Supermassive black holes can be billions of miles across, and the dense walls of gluons, known as color glass condensates (CGCs), are less than a billionth of a mile in diameter.