Optical second harmonic generation near a black hole horizon as possible source of experimental information on quantum gravitational effects

Abstract

Optical second harmonic generation near a black hole horizon is suggested as a source of experimental information on quantum gravitational effects. While absent in the framework of general relativity, second harmonic generation appears in the toy models of sonic and electromagnetic black holes, where spatial dispersion at high frequencies for waves boosted towards the horizon is introduced. Localization effects in the light scattering from random fluctuations of matter fields and space-time metric near the black hole horizon produce a pronounced peak in the angular distribution of second harmonics of light in the direction normal to the horizon. Such second harmonic light has the best chances to escape the vicinity of the black hole. This phenomenon is similar to the well-known strong enhancement of diffuse second harmonic emission from a randomly rough metal surface in the direction normal to the surface.