Photo: National Science Foundation / AFP / Getty Images
By: The Opinion Updated 23 Nov 2022, 15: 60 pm EST
Throughout the modern history of humanity, they have managed to reproduce various phenomena natural in the laboratories and recently a black hole was recreated or that it could even shine.
Understanding black holes is key to unraveling the l the most fundamental eyes that govern the cosmos, since they represent the limits of two one of the most proven theories of physics: the theory of general relativity, which describes the gravity
as a result of the (large-scale) deformation of space-time by massive objects, and the theory of quantum mechanics, which describes physics at the smallest length scales.
British scientist Stephen Hawking discovered that every black hole must emit a small amount of radiation thermal due to small quantum fluctuations around its horizon.
Unfortunately, this radiation has never been detected directly. The amount of Hawking radiation coming from each black hole is predicted to be it is so small that it is impossible to detect it (with current technology) among the radiation coming from all other cosmic objects.
Given the impossibility of detecting That radiation, researchers from the University of Amsterdam and the IFW in Dresden set out to recreate a black hole
to study the mechanism underlying the appearance of Hawking radiation right here on Earth.
“We wanted to use the powerful tools of condensed matter physics to probe the unattainable physics of these incredible objects: black holes”, said author Lotte Mertens.
To do this, the researchers studied a model based on a one-dimensional chain of atoms, in which electrons can “jump” from one place io atomic to the next. They discovered that the deformation of space-time due to the presence of a black hole is imitated by adjusting the ease with which electrons can jump between each site.
Similarly, they appreciated that, with the variation correct probability of jumping along the chain, an electron that moves from one end of the chain to the other will behave exactly like a piece of matter approaching the horizon of a black hole.
Likewise, they observed that, analogous to Hawking radiation, the model system has thermal excitations measurable in the presence of a synthetic horizon.
Applications of this experiment
This synthetic black hole model, which followed its creators it is simple, can be implemented in a variety of experimental configurations, the researchers point out.
This could include tunable electronic systems, spin chains, ultracold atoms or optical experiments.
“ Bringing black holes into the lab may bring us one step closer to understanding the interplay between gravity and quantum mechanics, and our path to a theory of quantum gravity”, concludes the research.
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