Small absences of light

 

Tiny reproduction black holes made in a laboratory could allow researchers to better understand the theories proposed by Stephen Hawking 35 years ago.

As described the journal Physical Review Letters, the researchers from Dartmouth University in the US describe how they could theoretically reproduce black holes so they can uncover the celestial phenomenon known as Hawking radiation.

"Hawking famously showed that black holes radiate energy according to a thermal spectrum," said Paul Nation, an author on the paper and a graduate student at Dartmouth. "His calculations relied on assumptions about the physics of ultra-high energies and quantum gravity. Because we can't yet take measurements from real black holes, we need a way to recreate this phenomenon in the lab in order to study it, to validate it."

In the paper, the researchers show that a magnetic field-pulsed microwave transmission line containing an array of superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) can reproduce the physics as seen in a radiating black hole and can do so in a system that can be controlled in the lab.

"We can also manipulate the strength of the applied magnetic field so that the SQUID array can be used to probe black hole radiation beyond what was considered by Hawking," said Miles Blencowe, another author on the paper and a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth.

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