In 1974 the physicist Stephen Hawking suggested the existence of a type of radiation emitted near black hole event horizon and that he would for the first time reconcile two apparently incompatible theories: is general relativity and quantum mechanics. The problem is that this radiation, dubbed Hawking radiation, was nothing more than something theoretical that neither he nor anyone else had been able to observe. However, a group of Dutch scientists seem to have discovered it for the first time. Of course, they did this not directly in the universe, but in imitation of a black hole in the laboratory.
The simulation of black holes is actually nothing new. However, this time they managed to reproduce the event horizon with such accuracy that they even generated something equivalent Hawking radiation.
Now you will need to make sure that this is really what Stephen Hawking described, and, along the way, analyze special circumstances in which it happens. Only in this way will they be able to study whether these two conflicting theories will finally reach an understanding.
important concepts
To understand what these scientists did, we must know very rough What are the above two theories? And also what is a black hole and its event horizon.
The general theory of relativity formulated Albert Einsteindescribes behavior gravity which a continuous field called spacetime. He also describes that the geometry of this space-time is affected by the presence of matter.
On the other hand, quantum mechanics is a branch of physics that studies nature through very small spatial scalesso it can only be determined probabilistic calculations. Several scientists were involved in the development of this theory, but one of the first to directly discuss his differences with Einstein regarding general relativity was a Dane. Niels Bohr.
And the fact is that both theories describe areas so different from reality that they are considered incompatible. However, over the years they have been looking for ways to make them match. And this is where they come into play. Black holes and the event horizon.
A black hole is a region of space containing such a high concentration of mass that it generates huge gravitational pull. So much so that nothing has enough speed to run away from it from a certain distance. This distance is set event horizon D not even light can escape.
All this agrees perfectly with the general theory of relativity, but not quite with quantum mechanics. However, when Stephen Hawking described the radiation that bears his name, he did so based on purely quantum effects. Therefore, if it could be shown that such radiation really exists, a black hole would be the point at which both theories agree.
Laboratory black hole to demonstrate Hawking radiation
This laboratory hole was placed one-dimensional chain of atoms this would serve as a path for the electrons to jump from one position to another. They then adjusted for the ease with which these jumps occurred to create something like an event horizon that interferes with the wave nature of the electrons.
At that moment they saw that temperature rise which is “consistent with what is theoretically expected of an equivalent system of black holes”. However, this only happened “when part of the chain went beyond the event horizon”. Therefore, there would be an entanglement of the particles, which could correspond to Hawking radiation.
However, as reported in the article Scientific Alert about this study, “the simulated Hawking radiation was thermal only for a certain range of jump amplitudesand in simulations that started with imitation type of spacetime considered flat“. Therefore, this indicates that “Hawking radiation can only be thermal in a number of situations and when there is a change in the deformation of space-time due to gravity.”
The next step for these scientists will be to test the new conformations and see if the same result is obtained. Thus, perhaps, the discussion begun by Einstein and Bohr a century ago can finally be considered finished.
Source: Hiper Textual
