Physicists have replicated key aspects of black hole physics in a laboratory using a motionless apparatus that mimics effects of extreme rotational speeds. The work validates a concept first proposed over fifty years ago by Sir Roger Penrose, who theorized that energy could be extracted from a rapidly rotating black hole. Researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center achieved this without any moving components by employing artificial rotation in a controlled setting. Their findings, reported in Nature, bring a long-theorized process into experimental physics. The model bypasses mechanical constraints and may support developments in wireless systems, optics, and quantum technologies. Penrose described how a particle entering a black hole ergosphere could divide, with one portion falling inward while the other escapes carrying additional energy. Yakov Zel’dovich later showed that electromagnetic waves could similarly gain strength by interacting with an object spinning at very high velocities. Direct testing proved difficult because materials cannot withstand the forces required to replicate such speeds. The CUNY team therefore constructed a fixed radio-frequency ring using engineered metamaterials. Timed variations in electrical properties around the ring generated a wave pattern equivalent to superluminal rotation. Principal investigator Andrea Alù noted that the method enables wave-matter interactions in which selected rotational waves draw energy from synthetic rotation, yielding broad amplification. When appropriate radio waves entered the ring, they interacted with the engineered pattern and increased in strength, reproducing the Penrose-Zel’dovich effect. Co-lead author Hady Moussa stated that waves possessing suitable rotational traits extracted energy and were amplified. Lead author Hadiseh Nasari emphasized that the platform allows study of extreme rotational dynamics in astrophysics, wave physics, and quantum science, with potential applications in communications and photonics. The approach could improve components for radar and wireless systems. The team intends to scale the technology for photonic and quantum devices to enable precise light control in computing chips.
