• Researchers have successfully created a laboratory analog of the 'black hole bomb', a theoretical concept involving energy amplification near rotating black holes.
• The experiment uses a rotating aluminum cylinder and magnetic fields to simulate the conditions around a black hole, demonstrating the amplification effect.
• This analog provides a valuable tool for understanding black hole physics, as direct observation of black holes is not possible.

A team of physicists led by Marion Cromb of the University of Southampton has created the first laboratory analog of the 'black hole bomb,' a theoretical concept proposed by Roger Penrose and Yakov Zel'Dovich. The experiment involves a rotating aluminum cylinder placed inside layers of coils that generate rotating magnetic fields. This setup simulates the conditions near a rotating black hole, specifically the ergosphere and the frame-dragging effect. The experiment successfully demonstrated the amplification of magnetic fields when the cylinder rotated faster than the magnetic field, supporting the theoretical predictions.

• What: Creation of a laboratory analog of the 'black hole bomb' to simulate energy amplification near rotating black holes.
• Who: Researchers led by Marion Cromb of the University of Southampton.
• When: Experiment described in a paper uploaded to preprint server arXiv in May 2025 (as per the article's dateline).
• Where: University of Southampton, UK (inferred from the affiliation of the lead researcher).

The creation of a 'black hole bomb' analog represents a significant step in understanding black hole physics. Since direct observation of black holes is impossible, analogs like this provide valuable insights into their properties. The experiment successfully demonstrated the energy amplification effect predicted by theory, validating the concepts proposed by Penrose and Zel'Dovich. While practical applications are still distant, this experiment contributes to a deeper understanding of extreme gravitational phenomena.

The experiments presented here are a direct realization of the rotating absorber amplifier first proposed by Zel'dovich in 1971 and later developed by Press and Teukolsky into the concept of black hole bomb.

Scientists have successfully created a laboratory analog of the 'black hole bomb,' confirming the energy amplification effect predicted by theory and the superradiance concept. This breakthrough provides a valuable tool not only for understanding black hole physics and extreme gravitational phenomena, but also for exploring fundamental physics, such as the detection of dark matter candidates and other unknown particles, and for resolving the tension between general relativity and quantum mechanics. This experiment, which validates the Penrose process and Zel'dovich effect, opens new avenues for investigating black hole dynamics, Hawking radiation, and the information loss paradox, potentially transforming black holes into cosmic particle detectors and offering insights into the behavior of quantum fields in curved spacetimes.