Question

Is a “supercritical charge” in graphene similar to Hawking Radiation?

Answer 1

These papers describe a phenomenon referred to as "atomic collapse" and "supercritical charge" in graphene: Wang et al., Pereira et al.

"Atomic collapse" appears when you have a large enough Coulomb potential in a system described by the Dirac Equation. In the case of graphene, a localized state is embedded in the continuum below the Dirac Point, causing an electron to fall into the state, leaving behind a hole.

I was wondering whether something similar could happen for gravity. I know gravity is due to the curvature of spacetime rather than a Coulomb potential, but the phenomenon described by the papers cited above seem reminiscent of Hawking Radiation. Is "atomic collapse" the electromagnetic analog of Hawking Radiation?

Answer 2

Yes a supercritical charge in graphene similar to hawking radiation