Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:0906.1337 · Physical Review Letters

Realization of a Sonic Black Hole Analog in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Oren Lahav, Amir Itah, Alex Blumkin, Carmit Gordon, Shahar Rinott, Alona Zayats, Jeff Steinhauer

Published Dec 7, 2010• 336 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We have created an analog of a black hole in a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this sonic black hole, sound waves, rather than light waves, cannot escape the event horizon. A steplike potential accelerates the flow of the condensate to velocities which cross and exceed the speed of sound by an order of magnitude. The Landau critical velocity is therefore surpassed. The point where the flow velocity equals the speed of sound is the sonic event horizon. The effective gravity is determined from the profiles of the velocity and speed of sound. A simulation finds negative energy excitations, by means of Bragg spectroscopy.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.105.240401

Related papers

Stationary acoustic black hole solutions in Bose–Einstein condensates and their Borel analysis

Sachin Vaidya, Martı́n Kruczenski

Abstract In this article, we study the dynamics of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) with the idea of finding solutions that could possibly correspond to the so-called acoustic (or Unruh) black/white holes. These are flows with horizons where the speed of the flow changes from sub-sonic to super-sonic. This is because sound cannot return from the supersonic to the subsonic regions. The speed of sound plays the role of the speed of light in a gravitational black hole, with an important difference being that there are excitations that can go faster than the speed of sound and therefore can escape the sonic black hole. Here, the motion of the BEC is described by the Gross–Pitaevskii equation (GPE). More specifically, we discuss singular Stationary solutions of GPE in 2D (with circular symmetry) and 3D (with spherical symmetry). We use these solutions to study the local speed of sound and magnitude of flow velocity of the condensate to determine whether they cross, indicating the potential existence of a sonic analog of a black/white hole. We discuss the numerical techniques used and also study the semi-analytical Laplace–Borel resummation of asymptotic series solutions to see how well they agree with numerical solutions. We also study how the resurgent transseries plays a role in these solutions.

arXiv:2411.06678•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Apr 22, 2025•2 citations

Sonic black holes with thick horizons in BECs

Daniel Peñalver, Marco De Vito, Roberto Balbinot +1 more

We consider simple one dimensional models of acoustic black holes formed by Bose-Einstein condensates where the flow is stepwise homogeneous. We shall concentrate on the case in which an extended sonic region is present, i.e. a region where the flow velocity equals exactly the speed of sound. These models can be thought of as acoustic black holes with a thick horizon. Particular attention will be devoted to the number of created particles and to the density-density correlation functions, these latter being at present time the experimental tool to identify Hawking like radiation in acoustic black holes.

arXiv:2607.11396•Physical review. D/Physical review. D.•Sep 3, 2026•0 citations

Acoustic Black Hole in a 1D Bose-Einstein Condensate with a Topological Defect: A Numerical Study

Ruslan Kudinov

What happens when sound itself cannot escape? In this work, a 1D Bose-Einstein condensate is manipulated with a topological defect — a phase profile with an odd number of half-twists, inspired by the Möbius strip. The result: the speed of sound drops to zero. A region is created where sound waves simply cannot enter — an acoustic event horizon. This is not a black hole in space. But it is the exact analogue of one: a region from which nothing (not even sound) can escape. The simulation is based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and solved with a split-step Fourier method. No fitting parameters are used. The code is open source and available on GitHub. If we can create an acoustic horizon in a laboratory, what else can we create? This work explores the boundary between condensed matter physics and general relativity — and suggests that topological defects may be the key to controlling spacetime itself.

•Jun 19, 2026•0 citations

Sonic black holes in dilute Bose-Einstein condensates

Luis J. Garay, J. R. Anglin, J. I. Cirac +1 more

The sonic analog of a gravitational black hole in dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensates is investigated. It is shown that there exist both dynamically stable and unstable configurations which, in the hydrodynamic limit, exhibit behaviors completely analogous to that of gravitational black holes. The dynamical instabilities involve the creation of quasiparticle pairs in positive and negative energy states. We illustrate these features in two qualitatively different one-dimensional models, namely, a long, thin condensate with an outcoupler laser beam providing an ``atom sink,'' and a tight ring-shaped condensate. We also simulate the creation of a stable sonic black hole by solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation numerically for a condensate subject to a trapping potential which is adiabatically deformed. A sonic black hole could, in this way, be created experimentally with state-of-the-art or planned technology.

arXiv:gr-qc/0005131•Physical Review A•Jan 17, 2001•297 citations

Acoustic black holes, white holes, and wormholes in Bose-Einstein condensates in two dimensions

Sachin Vaidya, Martı́n Kruczenski

In a previous article, we studied stationary solutions to the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate corresponding to acoustic (or Unruh) black or white holes, namely, configurations where the flow becomes supersonic, creating a horizon for phonons. In this paper, we consider again the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, but looking for stationary numerical solutions in the case where the couplings are position dependent in a prescribed manner. Initially, we consider a two-dimensional quantum gas in a funnel-like spatial metric. We then reinterpret this solution as a solution in a flat metric but with spatially dependent coupling and external potential. In these solutions, the local speed of sound and the magnitude of flow velocity cross, indicating the existence of a supersonic region and therefore of sonic analogs of black and white holes and wormholes. We discuss the numerical techniques used. We also study phase (and density) fluctuations in these solutions and derive approximate acoustic metric tensors. For certain external potentials, we find uniform-density acoustic-black-hole configurations and obtain their Hawking temperature.

arXiv:2412.02727•Physical Review A•Apr 14, 2025•0 citations

Bogoliubov theory of the Hawking effect in Bose Einstein condensates

Ulf Leonhardt, T. Kiss, P hberg

Artificial black holes may demonstrate some of the elusive quantum properties of the event horizon, in particular Hawking radiation. One promising candidate is a sonic hole in a Bose–Einstein condensate. We clarify why Hawking radiation emerges from the condensate and how this condensed-matter analogue reflects some of the intriguing aspects of quantum black holes.

arXiv:cond-mat/0211464•Journal of Optics B Quantum and Semiclassical Optics•Apr 1, 2003•54 citations
We have created an analog of a black hole in a Bose-Einstein condensate. In this sonic black hole, sound waves, rather than light waves, cannot escape the event horizon. A steplike potential accelerates the flow of the condensate to velocities which cross and exceed the speed of sound by an order of magnitude. The Landau critical velocity is therefore surpassed. The point where the flow velocity equals the speed of sound is the sonic event horizon. The effective gravity is determined from the profiles of the velocity and speed of sound. A simulation finds negative energy excitations, by means of Bragg spectroscopy.
Abstract In this article, we study the dynamics of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) with the idea of finding solutions that could possibly correspond to the so-called acoustic (or Unruh) black/white holes. These are flows with horizons where the speed of the flow changes from sub-sonic to super-sonic. This is because sound cannot return from the supersonic to the subsonic regions. The speed of sound plays the role of the speed of light in a gravitational black hole, with an important difference being that there are excitations that can go faster than the speed of sound and therefore can escape the sonic black hole. Here, the motion of the BEC is described by the Gross–Pitaevskii equation (GPE). More specifically, we discuss singular Stationary solutions of GPE in 2D (with circular symmetry) and 3D (with spherical symmetry). We use these solutions to study the local speed of sound and magnitude of flow velocity of the condensate to determine whether they cross, indicating the potential existence of a sonic analog of a black/white hole. We discuss the numerical techniques used and also study the semi-analytical Laplace–Borel resummation of asymptotic series solutions to see how well they agree with numerical solutions. We also study how the resurgent transseries plays a role in these solutions.
We consider simple one dimensional models of acoustic black holes formed by Bose-Einstein condensates where the flow is stepwise homogeneous. We shall concentrate on the case in which an extended sonic region is present, i.e. a region where the flow velocity equals exactly the speed of sound. These models can be thought of as acoustic black holes with a thick horizon. Particular attention will be devoted to the number of created particles and to the density-density correlation functions, these latter being at present time the experimental tool to identify Hawking like radiation in acoustic black holes.
What happens when sound itself cannot escape? In this work, a 1D Bose-Einstein condensate is manipulated with a topological defect — a phase profile with an odd number of half-twists, inspired by the Möbius strip. The result: the speed of sound drops to zero. A region is created where sound waves simply cannot enter — an acoustic event horizon. This is not a black hole in space. But it is the exact analogue of one: a region from which nothing (not even sound) can escape. The simulation is based on the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and solved with a split-step Fourier method. No fitting parameters are used. The code is open source and available on GitHub. If we can create an acoustic horizon in a laboratory, what else can we create? This work explores the boundary between condensed matter physics and general relativity — and suggests that topological defects may be the key to controlling spacetime itself.
The sonic analog of a gravitational black hole in dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensates is investigated. It is shown that there exist both dynamically stable and unstable configurations which, in the hydrodynamic limit, exhibit behaviors completely analogous to that of gravitational black holes. The dynamical instabilities involve the creation of quasiparticle pairs in positive and negative energy states. We illustrate these features in two qualitatively different one-dimensional models, namely, a long, thin condensate with an outcoupler laser beam providing an ``atom sink,'' and a tight ring-shaped condensate. We also simulate the creation of a stable sonic black hole by solving the Gross-Pitaevskii equation numerically for a condensate subject to a trapping potential which is adiabatically deformed. A sonic black hole could, in this way, be created experimentally with state-of-the-art or planned technology.
In a previous article, we studied stationary solutions to the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate corresponding to acoustic (or Unruh) black or white holes, namely, configurations where the flow becomes supersonic, creating a horizon for phonons. In this paper, we consider again the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, but looking for stationary numerical solutions in the case where the couplings are position dependent in a prescribed manner. Initially, we consider a two-dimensional quantum gas in a funnel-like spatial metric. We then reinterpret this solution as a solution in a flat metric but with spatially dependent coupling and external potential. In these solutions, the local speed of sound and the magnitude of flow velocity cross, indicating the existence of a supersonic region and therefore of sonic analogs of black and white holes and wormholes. We discuss the numerical techniques used. We also study phase (and density) fluctuations in these solutions and derive approximate acoustic metric tensors. For certain external potentials, we find uniform-density acoustic-black-hole configurations and obtain their Hawking temperature.