A group of scientists and researchers managed to create an “artificial black hole” in a scientific laboratory.
Black holes are by far one of the most mysterious things in space, and while we have taken pictures of black holes, they are all lacking in detail. This is because the light of space literally bends around and dodges these void-like entities, making them hard to notice. But with this artificial, lab-created black hole, maybe scientists will get a closer look.
Thanks to this artificial black hole, scientists were able to observe the industrial equivalent of Hawking radiation.
Hawking radiation is thermal radiation that physics predicts is emitted by black holes. This radiation is named after Stephen Hawking, who theoretically demonstrated the existence of this radiation in 1974. It is also sometimes attributed to Jaekon Bekenstein, who predicted that black holes have heat. It is believed that Hawking radiation is what causes black holes to shrink and decay.
The researchers say that these man-made black hole observations could help resolve some of the tension between the two frameworks.
The first framework is the general theory of relativity, which describes the behavior of gravity as a continuous field known as space-time. The second framework is quantum mechanics, which describes the behavior of discrete particles using the mathematics of probability, according to ScienceAlert.
Scientists hope that simulating a man-made black hole will help us combine these two theories.
If we can do this, it could provide us with a deeper understanding of how the universe works. This, in and of itself, could also provide us with more details about how black holes work, which might help scientists define the difference between wormholes and black holes.
The impact of this man-made black hole resulted in a temperature increase that is consistent with theoretical predictions for a black hole system. The artificial black hole horizon also showed signs of glowing in the lab where the researchers created it.