{
  "abstract": "Rotating black holes can amplify incident waves through superradiant scattering. When these waves are confined, repeated amplification gives rise to the black-hole bomb instability, whose nonlinear evolution remains poorly understood despite its central role in models of bosonic clouds around astrophysical black holes. Here, we reproduce the black-hole bomb mechanism in a laboratory setting using a gravity simulator based on a draining vortex in superfluid helium. Surface waves propagating on the superfluid interface experience an effective rotating spacetime and undergo repeated superradiant amplification within a cylindrical cavity. By tuning the temperature and flow parameters, we achieve exponential growth of a low-frequency resonant mode, followed by the arrest of the instability and the formation of a long-lived non-equilibrium steady state. Using spatially and temporally resolved measurements, we identify nonlinear frequency shifts, harmonic generation, and coherent three- and four-wave mixing that redistribute energy among interacting modes. This novel end state of the experimental black-hole bomb highlights the role of nonlinear wave interactions in quenching the runaway growth expected from linear theory and governing the system's late-time dynamics. Our results establish a laboratory framework for investigating the nonlinear evolution of black-hole bombs, with implications for analogous phenomena involving ultralight bosonic fields around rotating black holes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.05595",
  "author_total": 13,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Patrik Švančara"
    },
    {
      "name": "Leonardo Solidoro"
    },
    {
      "name": "Pietro Smaniotto"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sam Patrick"
    },
    {
      "name": "Silvia Schiattarella"
    },
    {
      "name": "Maciej T. Jarema"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sean M. D. Gregory"
    },
    {
      "name": "Vitor S. Barroso"
    },
    {
      "name": "Maurício Richartz"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anastasios Avgoustidis"
    },
    {
      "name": "Carlo F. Barenghi"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ruth Gregory"
    },
    {
      "name": "Silke Weinfurtner"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/75vap5e6knw64.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.05595",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "75vap5e6knw64",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.05595",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "gr-qc"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "physics.flu-dyn"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|Black Holes and Theoretical Physics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7212005506",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.05595",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-04",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/75vap5e6knw64.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:48Z",
      "native_id": "2609.05595",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.05595"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:physics.flu-dyn",
      "subfield": "fluid-dynamics"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:gr-qc",
      "subfield": "gravitation"
    }
  ],
  "title": "End state of the experimental black-hole bomb",
  "title_text": "End state of the experimental black-hole bomb",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:48Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/75vap5e6knw64",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}