Dynamics of fluctuations in an optical analog of the Laval nozzle

TL;DR

This paper proposes an optical analogue of the Laval nozzle using Kerr nonlinear media to study transonic flows and quantum fluctuations, including Hawking radiation analogues, supported by theoretical and numerical analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optical system mimicking a Laval nozzle to explore transonic flow dynamics and quantum fluctuations, including Hawking radiation analogues.

Findings

The optical Laval nozzle can generate transonic flows.

Quantum fluctuations exhibit dynamics similar to Hawking radiation.

Numerical estimates suggest feasible experimental realization.

Abstract

Using the analogy between the description of coherent light propagation in a medium with Kerr nonlinearity by means of nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation and that of a dissipationless liquid we propose an optical analogue of the Laval nozzle. The optical Laval nozzle will allow one to form a transonic flow in which one can observe and study a very unusual dynamics of classical and quantum fluctuations including analogue of the Hawking radiation of real black holes. Theoretical analysis of this dynamics is supported by numerical calculations and estimates for a possible experimental setup are presented.