An Optical Analog of a Black Holes

TL;DR

This paper explores optical analogs of black holes using media with low group velocities, demonstrating how different flow configurations can mimic true black hole properties including horizons and Hawking radiation.

Contribution

It shows that radial flows create true optical black holes with Hawking temperature, and combining flows can simulate Kerr black holes, advancing optical black hole analog research.

Findings

Radial flow produces a true optical black hole with Hawking temperature.

Leonhardt-Piwnicki vortex flow lacks a null hypersurface, so it's not a true black hole.

Combining flows simulates Kerr black hole properties.

Abstract

Using media with extremely low group velocities one can create an optical analog of a curved space-time. Leonhardt and Piwnicki have proposed that a vortex flow will act as an optical black hole. We show that although the Leonhardt - Piwnicki flow has an orbit of no return and an infinite red-shift surface, it is not a true black hole since it lacks a null hypersurface. However a radial flow will produce a true optical black hole that has a Hawking temperature and obeys the first law of black hole mechanics. By combining the Leonhardt - Piwnicki flow with a radial flow we obtain the analog of the Kerr black hole.