The sonic analogue of black hole radiation

TL;DR

This paper extends a microscopic model of Hawking radiation in sonic black holes to include finite size effects, suggesting feasible experimental setups with microkelvin temperatures using current technology.

Contribution

It introduces a finite size extension to an exactly solvable model of sonic black hole radiation, enhancing its realism and experimental relevance.

Findings

Finite size effects can be incorporated into the model.

Hawking temperature can reach microkelvin levels in experiments.

The model remains exactly solvable with the extension.

Abstract

A microscopic description of Hawking radiation in sonic black holes has been recently presented (Giovanazzi S 2005 Phys. Rev. Lett. 94 061302). This exactly solvable model is formulated in terms of one-dimensional scattering of a Fermi gas. In this paper, the model is extended to account possible finite size effects of a realistic geometry. The flow of particles is maintained by a piston (i.e. an impenetrable barrier) moving slowly towards the sonic horizon. Using existing technologies the Hawking temperature can be of order of a few microkelvin in a realistic experiment.