Image Courtesy: Dalila Pasotti and Hadiseh Nasari
Physicists have experimentally recreated a process inspired by rotating black holes, demonstrating that electromagnetic waves can extract energy from a specially engineered system without any moving parts. The achievement brings a decades-old theoretical prediction into the laboratory and could lead to new advances in communications, photonics, and quantum technologies.
The research was carried out by scientists at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, who designed a radio frequency device that mimics the effects of extreme rotation by rapidly changing its properties across space and time. Rather than physically spinning, the device creates what researchers call “synthetic rotation,” allowing waves to gain energy in a way predicted by black hole physics. The findings were published in Nature, <a href=”https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260711010120.htm”>according to ScienceDaily</a>.
The work builds on ideas first proposed by physicist Sir Roger Penrose more than 50 years ago. Penrose suggested that particles entering the ergosphere of a rapidly rotating black hole could split apart, allowing one fragment to escape with more energy than the original particle. Physicist Yakov Zel’dovich later extended the concept, predicting that waves interacting with a sufficiently fast-spinning object could also be amplified by extracting energy from its rotation.
To test the theory, the researchers arranged electronic resonators in a ring and synchronized rapid changes in their properties. Although the hardware remained stationary, the changing pattern created the illusion of ultrafast rotation. Electromagnetic waves traveling through the system behaved as though they were interacting with a spinning object, drawing energy from the synthetic motion and becoming amplified.
Lead researcher Andrea Alù said the approach introduces a new way for waves to interact with engineered materials, enabling selective broadband amplification. Lead author Hadiseh Nasari added that the experiment transforms a long-standing theoretical concept into a practical platform for studying astrophysics, wave physics, and quantum science.
Beyond validating an important prediction from theoretical physics, the technique could have practical applications. Because synthetic rotation can simulate motion beyond the limits of mechanical systems, researchers believe it may help develop new technologies for wireless communications, optics, photonics, and quantum information processing. Further research will be needed before the concept can be adapted for commercial use, but the experiment opens a new window into exploring some of the universe’s most extreme physical phenomena.
