Research
Vibrating mirrors of light create analog of a black hole event horizon
Phys.org ·
The Brief
- Researchers describe vibrating optical-cavity mirrors that could produce an analog of a black hole event horizon.
- Optical cavities are pairs of light-trapping mirrors used in lasers, atomic clocks and precision sensors.
- Some theories predict that rapidly changing the distance between mirrors makes light waves inside bunch together, forming a horizon-like boundary.
Why it matters
It is a proposed laboratory route to study black-hole-like effects with ordinary optical hardware, which could help test theory without access to real black holes.
- #optics
- #black holes
- #analog gravity
- #physics research
- #event horizon
Optical cavities are pairs of light-trapping mirrors and underpin the operation of lasers, atomic clocks and many types of precision sensors. If the distance between the mirrors is changed rapidly enough, some theories predict that the waves inside them should bunch together into…
Timeline
Space News reported the vibrating-mirror black hole analog proposal
Space News - Space, Astronomy, Space Exploration
Vibrating mirrors of light create analog of a black hole event horizon