Scientists have just created a black hole-like energy system in the lab without moving anything, recreating a 50-year-old theory that could transform future communications and quantum technology
Physicists have managed to recreate some of the extreme physics of black holes in the laboratory by building a fixture that replicates the effects of impossible rotational speeds.The achievement confirms theoretical ideas proposed more than half a century ago by Sir Roger Penrose, who proposed that energy could be harvested from rapidly spinning black holes. Rather than using moving parts, researchers at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center (CUNY ASRC) used artificial rotation in a controlled laboratory environment to recreate this cosmic energy process.The discovery, published in the journal Nature, brings an idea long held in science fiction into practical physics. The laboratory model avoids the physical limitations of mechanical machines and could help create new technologies in wireless communications, advanced optics and quantum computing.
Breaking the speed limit of materials
In 1969, Penrose proposed that if a particle entered a black hole’s ergosphere (a strange region of space and time that a black hole’s rotation pulls around), the particle might split into two parts. One part will fall to a point of no return, while another part can escape with more energy than the original particle.This idea was later expanded upon by physicist Yakov Zel’dovich, who showed that light and radio waves can also gain energy and become stronger if they are reflected off objects that are rotating at high speeds.For decades, scientists couldn’t test the idea using real motion in the lab because solid materials would fracture under the extreme forces needed to replicate a black hole’s spin. To overcome this problem, the CUNY ASRC team created a completely stationary radio frequency ring made of specially designed metamaterials.Rather than physically rotating the device, the researchers carefully timed changes in the electrical properties of electronic components placed around the ring. This controlled timing creates a moving wave pattern that replicates the physics of objects spinning faster than the speed of light.“Our method promotes a new way of interacting with matter, in which waves with selected rotational properties extract energy from synthetic time-engineered rotations, producing a broadband selective amplification,” said principal investigator Andrea Alù, Distinguished Professor and Einstein Professor of Physics at the CUNY Graduate Center and founding director of the CUNY ASRC Photonics Program.
CUNY physicists recreate black hole energy extraction in historic lab experiment
Generating energy through artificial movement
A major part of the experiment depends on how electromagnetic waves react in this artificial environment. When radio waves with certain rotational characteristics enter the stationary ring, they interact with the changing patterns created by the researchers. The waves gain energy from the artificial motion of the system and become stronger.“Waves with appropriate rotational properties extract energy from the system and are amplified, reproducing the fundamental physics of the Penrose-Zeldovich process,” said co-lead author Hady Moussa, a former doctoral student in the ASRC Photonics Program at CUNY. “Our approach relies on engineered metamaterials designed to control how waves propagate.”By eliminating the need for actual physical rotation, the experiment gives scientists a safe way to study the laws of nature that typically occur near the edges of black holes.“This successful experiment moves ideas about extreme rotational dynamics from theory to practice and creates a versatile experimental platform for exploring a wide range of phenomena at the intersection of astrophysics, wave physics, and quantum science,” said lead author Hadiseh Nasari, a postdoctoral fellow in the ASRC Photonics Program at CUNY. “This work has important implications for advances in basic science and communications, optics and photonics.“
Real-world applications of black hole physics
While the experiment helps astrophysicists understand extreme space conditions, the technology behind it could also have practical uses here on Earth. The ability to use stationary artificial rotation to amplify specific waves could help engineers create more efficient components for future wireless communications systems and radar technology.The research team plans to scale down the technology and test how it works with light-based photonic devices and quantum systems. If successful, the method could allow engineers to control how light travels through computer chips, potentially creating faster data-processing systems.The project is supported and funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOJ), the National Science Foundation, and the Simons Foundation. More improvements to the metamaterial rings are needed before the technology can be used in commercial communications devices.
