More than 50 years ago, physicist Sir Roger Penrose proposed a remarkable idea: under the right conditions, it might be possible to extract energy from a rapidly spinning black hole. Later, physicist Yakov Zel'dovich expanded on this, predicting that waves interacting with an object rotating fast enough could also gain energy and become amplified.

Now, researchers at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center have turned this theoretical concept into reality. Writing in the journal Nature, the team demonstrated wave amplification using a device that simulates extreme rotation without physically spinning anything.

"Our approach facilitates a new method of wave-matter interaction in which waves with selected rotational properties extract energy from synthetic time-engineered rotation, producing a form of broadband selective amplification," said principal investigator Andrea Alù, Distinguished Professor of Physics at CUNY.

Instead of rotating an object mechanically, the researchers built a radio frequency device whose properties are rapidly changed across both space and time. This carefully engineered system creates the illusion of ultrafast rotation, reaching effective rotational speeds far beyond what conventional mechanical systems can achieve.

Lead author Hadiseh Nasari explained: "This successful experiment moves ideas about extreme rotational dynamics from theory to practice and creates a versatile experimental platform for exploring a broad range of phenomena at the intersection of astrophysics, wave physics, and quantum science."

The researchers constructed a ring of electronic resonators whose properties were rapidly adjusted in a carefully synchronized sequence. Although the hardware itself never moved, these timed changes generated a traveling pattern around the ring. Electromagnetic waves with the appropriate rotational characteristics extracted energy from the system and became amplified, reproducing the essential physics of the Penrose-Zel'dovich process.

Because synthetic rotation can imitate motion beyond the speed of light, researchers now have a controlled laboratory platform for exploring physical regimes that would otherwise be impossible to study directly.

Practical applications could include: - New approaches to wireless communications and signal amplification - Advances in photonics and optical devices - Novel quantum technologies for information processing - Better understanding of fundamental astrophysical processes

The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the Simons Foundation.

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