Event horizons and ergoregions in 3He

TL;DR

This paper explores how superfluid 3He-A can simulate black hole phenomena like event horizons and ergoregions, demonstrating potential for experimental and theoretical studies of quantum effects such as Hawking radiation.

Contribution

It introduces superfluid 3He-A as a platform to model and analyze event horizons and ergoregions, highlighting its usefulness for studying quantum effects analogous to black holes.

Findings

Superfluid 3He-A can exhibit Hawking radiation at about 5 μK.

Moving solitons in 3He-A create effective horizons and ergoregions.

Superfluid 3He-A serves as a promising system for simulating quantum black hole effects.

Abstract

Event horizons for fermion quasiparticles naturally arise in moving textures in superconductors and Fermi superfluids. We discuss the example of a planar soliton moving in superfluid 3He-A, which is closely analogous to a charged rotating black hole. The moving soliton will radiate quasiparticles via the Hawking effect at a temperature of about 5 \mu K, and via vacuum polarization induced by the effective `electromagnetic field' and `ergoregion'. Superfluid 3He-A thus appears to be a useful system for experimental and theoretical simulations of quantum effects related to event horizons and ergoregions.