In modern physics, the unification of gravity and quantum mechanics remains a mystery. Gravity rules the macroscopic world of planets, stars and galaxies, while quantum mechanics governs the micro-cosmos of atoms, light quanta and elementary particles. However, cosmologists believe that these two disparate worlds may meet at the edges of black holes.
Now Luis Garay, James Anglin, Ignacio Cirac and Peter Zoller at the University of Innsbruck in Austria have proposed a realistic way to make an artificial “sonic” black hole in a tabletop experiment (L J Garay et al. 2000 Phys. Rev. Lett. 85 4643).
In the February issue of Physics World, Ulf Leonhardt of the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, UK, explains how the simulated black holes work.
