Black hole-sized magnetic fields could be created on Earth?

Scientists should be able to create magnetic fields on Earth that rival the military capability of those seen in black holes and neutron stars, a new study suggests.

Such strong magnetic fields, which would be created by blasting microtubules with lasers, are important for conducting basic physics, materials science and astronomy research, according to a new research report authored by Osaka University engineer Masakatsu Murakami and colleagues. The paper was issued Oct. 6 in the open-access journal Scientific Reports.

Most magnetic fields of Earth, even artificial ones, are not particularly substantial. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) used in hospitals typically produces fields of about 1 tesla or 10,000 gausses. (For comparison, the geomagnetic field that swings compass needle to the north registers between 0.3 and 0.5 Gauss.) Some research MRI machines use fields as high as 10.5 Tesla, or 105,000 gausses, and a 2018 lab experiment involving lasers created a study of up to about 1,200 teslas or just over 1-kilo tesla. Only no one has successfully gone higher than that.

At present, new simulations suggest that generating a mega tesla field — that is, a 1 million tesla field — should be possible. Murakami and his team used computer simulations and modelling to find that shooting ultra-intense laser pulses at hollow tubes just a few microns in diameter could energize the electrons in the tube wall and cause some to leap into the hollow cavity at the middle of the tube, imploding the tube. The interactions of these ultra-hot electrons and the vacuum created as the tube implodes leads to the flow of electric current. The flow of electric charges is what creates a magnetic line of business. In this lawsuit, the current flow can amplify a pre-existing magnetic field by two to three orders of magnitude, the researchers found.

The mega tesla magnetic field wouldn't last long, passing off after about 10 nanoseconds. But that's plenty of time for modern physics experiments, which frequently work with particles and conditions that wink out of existence in far less than the blink of an optic.

Murakami and his team further used supercomputer simulations to confirm that these ultra-strong magnetic fields are in reach for innovative technology. They calculated that creating these magnetic fields in the real world would involve a laser system with a pulse energy of 0.1 to 1 kilojoules and a total power of 10 to 100 petawatts. (A patent is a million billion watts.) Ten-petawatt lasers are already being deployed as part of the European Extreme Light Infrastructure, and Chinese scientists are planning to construct a 100 putout laser called the Station of Extreme Light, Science Magazine reported in 2018.

Ultrastrong magnetic fields have multiple applications in fundamental physics, including the search for dark matter. Super strong magnets can also confine plasma inside nuclear fusion reactors into a smaller field, paving the way for viable fusion energy in the future, Live Science previously reported.