Unravelling the Mysterious Nature of Black Holes in a High Tech Bathtub

Monday - July 17 2023, 18:35 UTC - 1 year ago

Professor Silke Weinfurtner's "Black Hole Laboratory" at the University of Nottingham has been replicating conditions for a black hole in a "high-tech bathtub" to better comprehend its mysterious nature. This lab experiment is simulating a black hole using a tiny vortex produced in a bell jar of superfluid helium cooled to -271 degrees Celsius. Its purpose is to explore and understand the phenomenon of superradiance where light is amplified into high amounts of energy around a black hole, and to gain insight into Hawking radiation and gravitational wave signals created by merging of black holes.

Enigmatic black holes are one of the most powerful cosmic entities lurking at the center of galaxies. These cosmic monsters have a dramatic and complicated influence on their immediate surroundings. This is due to the fact that black holes have such a powerful gravitational attraction that they can absorb anything, even light. Now, Professor Silke Weinfurtner's "Black Hole Laboratory" at the University of Nottingham is replicating conditions to better comprehend the mysterious nature of black holes .

Reportedly, the lab is stimulating a black hole in a "high-tech bathtub" in order to advance our understanding of black holes. "It is easy to get intimidated when thinking about black holes. All the effects predicted to occur around black holes seem so bizarre, so weird, so different," Weinfurtner told the Guardian.In this ongoing experiment, the black hole conditions are being stimulated with the help of a tiny vortex produced inside a bell jar of superfluid helium .

To show the quantum nature of a black hole, helium is cooled to -271 degrees Celsius. The researchers specifically picked helium since its vortex can only whirl at specifically defined quantities. In comparison to water, which spins at a continuous range of speeds. The ripples formed on the helium's surface resemble radiation approaching a black hole. Scientists closely study this rippling effect using a high-resolution camera with nanometre precision .

Weinfurtner and her colleagues designed this experiment to investigate a phenomenon known as superradiance. The black hole, in this theorized phenomenon, is likely to amplify any light that arrives in its proximity into high amounts of energy. The black hole must rotate slowly for this process to take place. This phenomenon has only been investigated theoretically up to this point, with no direct proof .

By stimulating superfluid helium, scientists may gain a better understanding of the underlying causes occurring in the black hole that might exhibit quantum effects. For instance, the curving of space-time is caused by the extreme gravitational pull of a black hole. This lab-based scenario might potentially be utilized to better understand Hawking radiation, which is the thermal radiation released spontaneously by black holes .

On the other hand, it may give insight into the gravitational wave signals sent throughout the universe by the catastrophic merging of black holes. These signals are often detected by ground-based gravitational wave detectors such as the LIGO.Reportedly, this new simulator experiment was funded by a £5 million grant split among seven major UK institutions (including Weinfurtner's).