Physicists successfully create ‘black hole bomb’ on Earth, confirming a theory proposed decades ago.

For the first time, researchers have successfully created what was previously termed a ‘black hole bomb’, bringing to life a theory proposed over 50 years ago.

In simple terms, a matter of positive energy can be trapped within a black hole if the black hole can exert more force than energy, the phenomenon ‘mirrors’ applied to ‘rotating black holes’ is termed as bomb.

Scotish Physicists William Press and Saul Teukolsky were the forerunners in the ‘black hole bomb’ theory describing in 1971 how mirrors could capture energy waves emitted by rotating black holes and also amplify those waves.

Now, a study led by Southampton University and University of Glasgow in collaboration with Italy’s National Research Council experimentally developed the black hole bomb and these advancements will propel astrophysicist’s understanding of rotating black holes. The document was made available on Arxiv on 31st March and has not been peer reviewed.

Underpinning the original ideas of 1972 were also two other physicists; starting with the British mathematician and physicist Roger Penrose proposing the idea of extracting energy from a rotating black hole and calling it ‘superradiance.’ Next in 1971, Belarusian physicist Yakov Zel’dovich proposed to study the phenomenon and aid lend support to the previous proposition.

‘Components exploded’

The scientists employed the Zeldovich effect in crafting their research. They used an electric motor to spin an aluminum cylinder, and placed three layers of metal coils around it. The coils acted ase mirrors by creating and reflecting magnetic fields off the cylinder, serving as a mirror.

The team applied a weak magnetic field to the cylinder and were able to observe that the field the cylinder muffled was even more powerful, showcasing superradiance.

After removing the coils’ weaker magnetic field, the circuit was able to generate its own waves. These waves were amplified by the spinning cylinder, enabling the coils to gather energy. The rotational speed of the cylinder in combination with the Zel’dovich effect created an intensified magnetic field. In the experiment, the Zeldovich effect was fully operational. Zeldovich also noted that an absorber in the form of a rotating cylinder would- under certain conditions- switch from absorption to amplification. This was proven through the experiment.

Study co author Maria Chiara Braidotti, a research associate in physics at the University of Glasgow said in an email, “Our work brings this prediction fully into the lab, demonstrating not only amplification but also the transition to instability and spontaneous wave generation.”

“We sometimes pushed the system so hard that circuit components exploded,” study co-author Marion Cromb, a researcher at the University of Southampton, told Live Science in an email. “That was both thrilling and a real experimental challenge!”

While the team didn’t create a real black hole, this analog demonstrates the crucial idea that rotational superradiance and exponential amplification are universal and don’t only apply to black holes. This model will also help physicists understand black hole rotation as well as concepts at the intersection of astrophysics, thermodynamics and quantum theory, Braidotti said. Their research is being reviewed for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

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