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To date, magnetic fields found and created on Earth have been relatively small.

Now, scientists at Osaka University in Japan believe they have found a way to create gigantic magnetic fields on earth, equalling the strength of those found in a black hole.

Their study, which was recently published in Scientific Reports by engineer Masakatsu Murakami and a team of researchers, details how generating a megatesla (one million teslas) field could be possible using intense-laser-driven microtube implosions.

The mechanism known as microtube implosion could see scientists creating magnetic fields up to 1,000 times bigger than anything previously seen on Earth.

Small hollow tubes, known as microtubules, are hit with strong laser pulses. This process energizes the electrons within the tubes’ walls resulting in some of them bouncing into the cylinder’s hollow center, where a small magnetic field has been seeded, causing a magnetizing implosion. A vacuum is formed as the tube collapses and electric current flows, which creates a magnetic field.

Murakami tested this theory via computer simulations and modeling, discovering that the current was capable of amplifying a pre-existing magnetic field by up to three orders of magnitude.

Further testing established that the laser systems and technology available today could match the results achieved through the team’s computer simulations.

The science behind the team’s discovery is undoubtedly fascinating and impressive, but what’s driving their research?

Producing these gigantic magnetic fields has a range of diverse applications, proving useful in several research fields such as materials science, quantum electrodynamics (QED), astronomy, plasma and beam physics, solar physics, and atomic and molecular physics. Experiments or studies in these areas often benefit from being in close proximity to a magnetic field, including in the search for dark matter.

Strong magnetic fields can also trap plasma in nuclear fusion reactors into a more confined space, which in the future could see the development of viable fusion energy.  

In 2008, scientists in Geneva, Switzerland, switched on The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — the most powerful particle accelerator the world had ever seen. More than 8,000 scientists collaborated on experiments relating to this 27km-long accelerator, and it was built at a cost of $8 billion following a development process that began in 1977.

Despite the monumental achievement of building the LHC, a series of sensationalist news reports led to fears that switching it on would create an all-consuming black hole.

Fortunately, as any of the physicists involved in the project already knew, these concerns were unfounded and no such end-of-the-world disaster unfolded. But that’s not to say similar concerns won’t arise in the case of Murakami’s magnetic fields.

Importantly, the megatesla magnetic fields created via microtube implosion will disappear as quickly as they come — fading after approximately 10 nanoseconds. That’s not enough time to destroy the world, but it is plenty of time for scientists – who are accustomed to working under these conditions — to carry out meaningful experiments.

Image Credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration

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