Title:  Hawking radiation and the trans-Planckian puzzle: from black holes to rubidium condensates

Abstract:  

A sonic analogy for Hawking radiation was introduced 36 years ago, motivated in part by the “trans-Planckian puzzle”. The analogy has shed light on the puzzle (which, however, remains enigmatic), and opened the possibility of observing Hawking radiation in a laboratory. This talk will present these ideas, and then go on to discuss recent experiments with rubidium Bose-Einstein condensates, in which stimulated and, possibly, spontaneous emission of sonic Hawking radiation has been observed.