Metamaterials mimic the black holes: the effects of charge and rotation on the optical properties

Abstract

Abstract Motivated by the investigation of a black hole’s properties in the lab, some interesting subjects such as analogue gravity and transformation optics are generated. In this paper, we look for analogies between the geometry of a gravitating system and the optical medium. In addition, we recognize that appropriate two-dimensional metamaterials can be used to mimic the propagation of light in the curved spacetimes and behave like black holes which are incident with light rays in the equatorial plane. The resemblance of metamaterials with Kerr and Reissner–Nordström spacetimes is studied. Finally, we compare the results of two-dimensional simulation for light propagation in the corresponding two-dimensional metamaterials with those obtained from the geometrical optical limit.