Black Hole Plasma Conditions Created on Earth – Laser Briefly Uses 1,000 Times the Electric Consumption of the Entire Globe

LFEX Laser Magnetic Reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is generated by the irradiation of the LFEX laser into the micro-coil. The particle outflow accelerated by the magnetic reconnection is evaluated using several detectors. As an example of the results, proton outflows with symmetric distributions were observed. Credit: Osaka University

Scientists at Osaka University use extremely intense laser pulses to create magnetized-plasma conditions comparable to those surrounding a black hole, study that may help explain the still mysterious X-rays that can be emitted from some celestial bodies.

LFEX Petawatt Laser Facility

One of the world’s largest petawatt laser facility, LFEX, located in the Institute of Laser Engineering at Osaka University. Credit: Osaka University

Laser Engineering at Osaka University have successfully used short, but extremely powerful laser blasts to generate magnetic field reconnection inside a plasma. This work may lead to a more complete theory of X-ray emission from astronomical objects like black holes.

In addition to being subjected to extreme gravitational forces, matter being devoured by a black hole can also be pummeled by intense heat and magnetic fields. Plasmas, a fourth state of matter hotter than solids, liquids, or gasses, are made of electrically charged protons and electrons that have too much energy to form neutral atoms. Instead, they bounce frantically in response to magnetic fields. Within a plasma, magnetic reconnection is a process in which twisted magnetic field lines suddenly “snap” and cancel each other, resulting in the rapid conversion of magnetic energy into particle kinetic energy. In stars, including our sun, reconnection is responsible for much of the coronal activity, such as solar flares. Owing to the strong acceleration, the charged particles in the black hole’s accretion disk emit their own light, usually in the X-ray region of the spectrum.

To better understand the process that gives rise to the observed X-rays coming from black holes, scientists at Osaka University used intense laser pulses to create similarly extreme conditions on the lab. “We were able to study the high-energy acceleration of electrons and protons as the result of relativistic magnetic reconnection,” Senior author Shinsuke Fujioka says. “For example, the origin of emission from the famous black hole Cygnus X-1, can be better understood.”

Magnetic Reconnection Fields

The magnetic field generated inside the micro-coil (left), and the magnetic field lines corresponding to magnetic reconnection (right) are shown. The geometry of the field lines changed significantly during (upper) and after (lower) reconnection. The peak value of the magnetic field was measured to be 2,100 T in our experiment. Credit: Osaka University

This level of light intensity is not easily obtained, however. For a brief instant, the laser required two petawatts of power, equivalent to one thousand times the electric consumption of the entire globe. With the LFEX laser, the team was able to achieve peak magnetic fields with a mind-boggling 2,000 teslas. For comparison, the magnetic fields generated by an MRI machine to produce diagnostic images are typically around 3 teslas, and Earth’s magnetic field is a paltry 0.00005 teslas. The particles of the plasma become accelerated to such an extreme degree that relativistic effects needed to be considered.

“Previously, relativistic magnetic reconnection could only be studied via numerical simulation on a supercomputer. Now, it is an experimental reality in a laboratory with powerful lasers,” first author King Fai Farley Law says. The researchers believe that this project will help elucidate the astrophysical processes that can happen at places in the Universe that contain extreme magnetic fields.

Reference: “Relativistic magnetic reconnection in laser laboratory for testing an emission mechanism of hard-state black hole system” by K. F. F. Law, Y. Abe, A. Morace, Y. Arikawa, S. Sakata, S. Lee, K. Matsuo, H. Morita, Y. Ochiai, C. Liu, A. Yogo, K. Okamoto, D. Golovin, M. Ehret, T. Ozaki, M. Nakai, Y. Sentoku, J. J. Santos, E. d’Humières, Ph. Korneev and S. Fujioka, 3 September 2020, Physical Review E.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.102.033202

23 Comments on "Black Hole Plasma Conditions Created on Earth – Laser Briefly Uses 1,000 Times the Electric Consumption of the Entire Globe"

  1. The second to last paragraph says, ‘For a brief instant, the laser required two petawatts of power’. What was the exact length of time of that ‘brief instant’?

  2. They are typically referred to as femtosecond lasers, so their pulse is measured in quadrillionths (10^15) of a second.

  3. So the x-rays are not emitted when atoms are ripped apart at the Schwartchild radius? That is how the light is emitted, correct? Would that not produce the x-rays? The magnetic reconnection seems more gravitational in nature. But idk ish.

  4. So it’s a 1 watt laser?

  5. So who paid for that electric bill?

  6. So 1000 times the entire globe
    If my electric bill is say 100.00 and say 5 billion people are the same so 500 billion / month…..1 sec is about $193,000.00
    Some one might want to check my math

  7. Jonathan Freedman | September 9, 2020 at 5:55 pm | Reply

    i’m concerned that the reason humans have not detected other intelligent life stems from the arc of high energy physics research: that the technology to generate a black hole (even microscopic) develops prior to the physics knowledge regarding how that will immediate create a macroscopic black hole, destroying the planet and of course, intelligent life with it.

  8. I’m 12 I dont understand it but it sounds cool lol

  9. The Safire project is proving the Electric sun model where they are getting energy densities of solar proportions with 65 watt s. So all this is in going in the wrong way

  10. Don’t worry Jonathan, this article has mislead you. It can’t make a blackhole, not microscopic, not for a nanosecond. Secondly you’ve been mislead about the nature of black holes, very small ones don’t eat everything and they evaporate. Microscopic blackholes may be all around space, passing through earth all the time. Matter is mostly empty space so it’s no wonder it could slip right between everything. If scientists were as capable as the naysayers would have you believe, we would have a lot fewer mysteries on our hands. Simply put, we’re not yet capable of the things you describe and I assure you if the risk would arise other scientists would be as concerned if not more concerned than you are.

  11. Nickolas Petersen | September 9, 2020 at 10:45 pm | Reply

    I have to agree with Jonathan. Technology may advance to the point that its power may be misunderstood and underestimate and as a result destroy the world. Making something that uses 1,000 times all electronic power on earth may be getting close to the edge.

    • Abstract says laser used picos(10^-12) rather than femtos(10^-15) pulses…cue current anti-“exper” jokes about physicists with/being needed like holes-in-the-head…

  12. The power is high but the energy is not that high. We don’t have to worry about black holes lol.

  13. a little closer to the renovation of old hyper drives .. how primitive .. to reduce consumption you need enriched Hydrogen, then just a small current .. But they forget that even after the end of the negative particles remain … well we have an explanation of weather anomalies radar and a change in magnetic poly. You have to do this research outside the planet, otherwise everything is distorted. Including biological effects on those who study it. dark matter is the soul, so it grows uncontrollably. each death increases it. The black hole engulfs it and the living entity acquires consciousness and the color of the iris. The black hole is a portal for born new live .. #consciousness

  14. Have you shined a laser at a microwave that is running? It gave me the weirdest feeling through my whole body. Microwaves and lasers are not to be toyed with. Especially if you’re trying to create black holes.

  15. Michael Harvey Miller | September 10, 2020 at 7:35 am | Reply

    Impressive and makes me nervous, too. Is there an article describing the term relativistic? And was it called predictive when it was machine computational? I’m also now wondering how many butterflies it would take to achieve the equivalent effect.

  16. The way a black hole naturally forms is by a critical mass star going supernovae. No way yet to emulate that, at least not to my knowledge. What I think would be a more interesting study than the one they did, is to run a super computer model with the idea that when a black hole forms, instead of mass compressing into a singularity (infinite density & zero volume), it switches into an opposite state possessing properties of an opposite sub-verse, then see how the model depicts the universe to date. The reason I suggest that is because we either exist in a one time accidental universe or an oscillating (repeat cycle) universe. If it’s the latter then an opposite sub-verse is necessary for that to occur. In this hypothetical opposite sub-verse model, when mass compresses into a black hole, instead of a singularity there would be some volume and extreme density at the center of a void in space-time out to the event horizon. In other words, no light would exist due to the absence of space-time within the event horizon. So the universe would have a process of generating space-time in the Big Bang, then in the opposite event, the forming of a black hole, the opposite would occur, the elimination of space-time i.e. the forces acting on that mass no longer spread out over space time, but all contained within that tiny spherical orb at the center of the event horizon. The progression of these black hole/opposite sub-verse events occurring over time since the Big Bang would have proportional effects and would need to be depicted in the super computer model: Increasing # & size of black holes is proportional to elimination of space-time within event horizons, is proportional to reduced cohesiveness of the overall fabric of space-time (like increasing voids in a sweater), is proportional to reduced resistance to the original expansive force of the Big Bang (due to increasing reductions in cohesiveness), is proportional to accelerating universe expansion, (in which ZERO dark energy exists because it’s not needed for oscillation), is proportional to changing universe shape to a central location, a Big Crunch. This proposed idea of opposite sub-verses does not threaten the existing model of relativity except in regards to what a black hole is. Consider this; If the model of opposite sub-verses (as a slight modification/addition to relativity) as a super computer model could be observed on a large display, we might see how the Universe oscillates and it would offer up a way of not requiring dark energy, which theoretically represents 72% of the energy in the universe. Eliminate the need for dark energy via opposite sub-verse theory depicted via a super computer model, and easily win a Nobel Peace Prize. I, Chris Slater, want 1/2 the accolades and 1/2 the prize money. Reach me at [email protected]

  17. Magnetic fields seem to be relative to distance…the closer material is to the source, the more force is sensed. The magnetic field of the earth at the core is pretty high, i imagine…

  18. The two petawatts of power on your electric bill would be cheap compared to the peak demand charge the electric company would chargge.

  19. David Todd Singleton | January 3, 2021 at 9:51 am | Reply

    Typo, TELSA should be, TESLA.

  20. An MRI is 3T, the science nerds used 2000T, and 2000T is more then 1000 times the electrical consumption of the entire globe? Are there less then 1 MRI running while all the lights are on? Am I reading that wrong somehow? Like, the scientists used less then 1000 MRIs worth of power…but are there not 1000 MRIs running at the same time all over the world? Is that a typo or is my math stupid, because I am bad at math.

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