Emergent Horizons in the Laboratory

Understand

The concept of a horizon known from general relativity describes the loss of causal connection and can be applied to non-gravitational scenarios such as out-of-equilibrium condensed-matter systems in the laboratory.

• This analogy facilitates the identification and theoretical study (e.g., regarding the trans-Planckian problem) and possibly the experimental verification of "exotic" effects known from gravity and cosmology, such as Hawking radiation.
• Furthermore, it yields a unified description and better understanding of non-equilibrium phenomena in condensed matter systems and their universal features.
• By means of several examples including general fluid flows, expanding Bose-Einstein condensates, and dynamical quantum phase transitions, the concepts of event, particle, and apparent horizons will be discussed together with the resulting quantum effects.