Crean hollo negro de sonido

Physicists have just created a variation of a black hole which, instead of trapping photons (particles of light), traps phonons (particles of sound). Yes, waves of sound vibrations in matter (like waves of light in space) can be expressed as either waves or particles in quantum physics, a principle known as wave particle duality.

This strange black hole phenomenon is achieved within the curious form of matter known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this rare state of matter, the flow of sound through the material is expressed the same way that the movement of light in a gravitational field is expressed, which has led the scientists to realize that they could create this analog of a black hole for sound. Multiple groups were working to achieve this, but the success seems to have come from Ori Lahav, Jeff Steinhauer, and colleagues at the Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa.

Sound waves created within the "black hole" (which, I think, would more appropriately be called a "black noise hole" or maybe a "quiet hole," but neither have a catchy ring to them) are unable to escape, because when they attempt to reach the event horizon, they can't pass that barrier because they are pulled in at supersonic speeds. In other words, they are pulled into the black hole faster than they can travel out, like someone trying to swim against rapids or a waterfall.

But things get stranger ... because it's possible that these black holes for sound will also exhibit Hawking radiation. Quantum physics indicates that pairs of "virtual phonons" are constantly being created and destroyed. If one of these pairs forms near the event horizon of the sound black hole, one of the phonons may end up getting pulled into the black hole while the other escapes. This means that the sound black hole could emit phonons, which is exactly what one expects for light instead of sound in regular black holes.

With the successful creation of a black hole for sound, it appears that the race is on to detect Hawking radiation for sound.