• Researchers created a 'black hole bomb' analog, experimentally verifying the Zel'dovich effect and Penrose process.
• The experiment uses a rotating aluminum cylinder and magnetic fields to mimic black hole energy amplification.
• The findings contribute to a better understanding of black hole physics, thermodynamics, and quantum theory.

Physicists have successfully created a laboratory analog of a 'black hole bomb,' experimentally validating the theoretical concept proposed by William Press and Saul Teukolsky in 1972, which built upon earlier work by Roger Penrose and Yakov Zel'dovich. The experiment, conducted by researchers from the University of Southampton, the University of Glasgow, and the Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies at Italy's National Research Council, demonstrates the amplification of energy from a rotating system, offering insights into black hole physics and related phenomena.

• What: Scientists created a laboratory analog of a 'black hole bomb' using a rotating aluminum cylinder and magnetic fields to simulate energy amplification.
• Who: Researchers from the University of Southampton, the University of Glasgow, and the Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies at Italy's National Research Council, led by Marion Cromb.
• When: Experiment was uploaded to the preprint server Arxiv on March 31, 2025, based on theories from 1969 (Penrose), 1971 (Zel'dovich), and 1972 (Press and Teukolsky).
• Where: Experiment conducted in a laboratory setting.

The creation of a black hole bomb analog represents a significant step in understanding black hole physics. The experiment successfully demonstrates the Zel'dovich effect and the potential for energy extraction from rotating systems. While not a real black hole, the analog provides a valuable tool for exploring complex phenomena at the intersection of astrophysics, thermodynamics, and quantum theory. The use of magnetic fields to simulate gravitational effects allows researchers to study these concepts in a controlled laboratory setting.

"Our work brings this prediction fully into the lab, demonstrating not only amplification but also the transition to instability and spontaneous wave generation."

"We sometimes pushed the system so hard that circuit components exploded. That was both thrilling and a real experimental challenge!"

"[T]he physical ingredients are as proposed more than 50 years ago. The results show that extraction of rotational energy can be observed at low-frequencies, where the conditions for negative energies (or negative resistances) can be met. Furthermore, it also shows how this unstable regime can be switched on and off as predicted for the black hole bomb."

The successful construction of a 'black hole bomb' analog represents a pivotal advancement in experimental physics, providing tangible validation for theoretical frameworks developed decades ago and opening new avenues for exploring black hole dynamics and related phenomena. This achievement not only deepens our understanding of black hole mechanics, including the extraction of energy from rotating black holes via superradiance, but also bridges astrophysics, thermodynamics, and quantum theory. Furthermore, it has implications for exploring fundamental concepts such as quantum friction and the Zeldovich effect seeded by the quantum vacuum. Future research will focus on observing spontaneous electromagnetic wave generation and runaway amplification seeded from the vacuum, potentially leading to the development of novel technologies and a deeper understanding of black hole instabilities. This breakthrough may also enable the use of black holes as detectors for dark matter and other unknown particles, offering a more effective method than current technologies like the Large Hadron Collider. Further refinement of experimental setups is needed, but these results mark a crucial step towards unlocking new insights into the universe.