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Hawking Radiation Mimicked In the Lab

Posted by samzenpus on from the old-bob dept.

Annanag writes *Nothing* escapes a black hole, right? Except 40 years ago Stephen Hawking threw a spanner in the works by suggesting that, courtesy of quantum mechanics, some light particles can actually break free of a black hole's massive pull. Then you have the tantalizing question of whether information can also escape, encoded in that so-called 'Hawking radiation'. The only problem being that no one has ever been able to detect Hawking radiation being emitted from a black hole. BUT a physicist has now come closer than ever before to creating an imitation of a black hole event horizon in the lab, opening up a potential avenue for investigating Hawking radiation and exploring how quantum mechanics and general relativity might be brought together.

3 of 66 comments (clear)

  1. Mimicking a theory, not a phenomenon by RWerp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because of the scale of the experimental setup, it is quite obvious that no gravitational effects are involved. Hence, there is no possibility for this experiment to recreate phenomena at the intersection of quantum mechanics and general relativity. What the Steinbauer does is he replicates a particular model of the black hole. If his setup works, fine, but it doesn't prove a single thing about how black holes behave - because he did not create one.

    --
    "Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead." (John Maynard Keynes)
  2. Re:Sound waves as quantum particles? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Also, slashdot,
    "Hawking Radiation Mimicked In the Lab"

    and ... a physicist has now come closer than ever before to creating an imitation of a black hole event horizon in the lab, opening up a ---> potential --- avenue for investigating Hawking radiation ...

    The fuck slashdot?
    Would you say that the title is kinda, sorta, misleading?

  3. event horizon? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Didn't we just decide black holes don't have those?