Quantum simulation of black-hole radiation

Weinfurtner, Silke

doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01592-x

NEWS AND VIEWS
29 May 2019

Quantum simulation of black-hole radiation

It is extremely difficult to observe the radiation that is thought to be emitted by black holes. The properties of this radiation have now been analysed using an analogue black hole comprising a system of ultracold atoms.

Silke Weinfurtner⁰

Silke Weinfurtner
1. Silke Weinfurtner is at the School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
View author publications

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Access through your institution

Buy or subscribe

One of the most striking proposals of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity is the prediction of black holes. In 1974, Stephen Hawking suggested that black holes are not completely black, but emit thermal radiation at a temperature that depends on their mass¹^,². Astrophysical observations of such Hawking radiation might not be possible, but the physics of the phenomenon should be at play in analogue systems. Writing in Nature, de Nova et al.³ report the detection of Hawking radiation and the measurement of its temperature in an ultracold atomic gas. The results could lead to a better understanding of analogue black holes and Hawking radiation, in general.

Access options

Access through your institution

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 569, 634-635 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01592-x

References

Hawking, S. W. Nature 248, 30–31 (1974).
Article Google Scholar
Unruh, W. G. Phys. Rev. D 14, 870–892 (1976).
Article Google Scholar
de Nova, J. R. M., Golubkov, K., Kolobov, V. I. & Steinhauer, J. Nature 569, 688–691 (2019).
Article Google Scholar
Unruh, W. G. Phys. Rev. Lett. 46, 1351–1353 (1981).
Article Google Scholar
Barceló, C., Liberati, S. & Visser, M. Living Rev. Relativ. 14, 3 (2011).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Weinfurtner, S., Tedford, E. W., Penrice, M. C. J., Unruh, W. G. & Lawrence, G. A. Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 021302 (2011).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Euvé, L.-P., Michel, F., Parentani, R., Philbin, T. G. & Rousseaux, G. Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 121301 (2016).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Garay, L. J., Anglin, J. R., Cirac, J. I. & Zoller, P. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 4643–4547 (2000).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Lahav, O. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 240401 (2010).
Article PubMed Google Scholar
Steinhauer, J. Nature Phys. 12, 959–965 (2016).
Article Google Scholar
Coutant, A. & Weinfurtner, S. Phys. Rev. D 97, 025006 (2018).
Article Google Scholar