NewsPhysics

Scientists have achieved the first detection of analogue Hawking radiation stimulated by a single photon. This experiment, conducted in an optical fiber light wave system, represents a significant advance in understanding the quantum phenomena associated with black holes. Hawking radiation, theoretically predicted by Stephen Hawking in 1974, describes the emission of particles by black holes due to quantum effects near the event horizon. Although direct detection of this radiation in astrophysical black holes is extremely difficult, analogue systems allow its properties to be studied in controlled laboratory environments.

The team used an "optical black hole" created in a nonlinear silica fiber, where an intense laser pulse generates an artificial event horizon for light. By injecting a single photon into this system, they observed an emission of analogue Hawking radiation that was correlated with the stimulating photon. This quantum stimulation is crucial, as it allows genuine radiation to be distinguished from other thermal or background noise, providing an unequivocal signature of the process. The experiment demonstrates how quantum vacuum effects, which are the basis of Hawking radiation, can be amplified and observed under controlled conditions.

“Scientists have achieved the first detection of analogue Hawking radiation stimulated by a single photon.”