Sonic Black Hole Traps Sound Waves

"Jeff's experiment confirms that it really is possible to create a reasonably stable supersonic flow in a superfluid gas," said Anglin. The research "will give us a new perspective on some really deep issues involving quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and gravity."

Specifically, Steinhauser wants to use his sonic black hole to help confirm the existence of the predicted, but as yet unobserved, Hawking radiation.

First predicted by the physicist Steven Hawking in 1974, Hawking radiation is radiation is theoretically emitted from just outside the event horizon of a black hole. Its existence would mean matter can escape from a true black hole.

If the amount of matter being ejected from the black hole is greater than the amount of incoming mass, the black hole will eventually evaporate.

Despite numerous ongoing efforts, definitive proof of Hawking radiation has eluded scientists. According to the theory, Hawking radiation is just slightly below the temperature of the surrounding area, making it very difficult to detect.

The sonic black hole equivalent of Hawking radiation would be a a cloud of phonons, basically vibrating packets of energy that behave like particles. Phonons escaping from a black hole could be found easily, as a small cloud between the two large clouds of Bose-Einstein condensates, or with more difficulty, as one cloud sitting on top of another.

Finding such a cloud of phonons wouldn't definitively confirm Hawking radiation, but it would lend experimental evidence to its existence, says Steinhauer.

"This is about understanding the basic laws of physics," said Steinhauer. "What this research is good for in day to day life I'm not sure, but we as humans want to understand how the universe works."

Related Links:

Discovery Space for news, interviews and more.

Irene Klotz's Blog: Free Space

Hawking Radiation