Light absorption and scattering by metamaterial thermal black hole

Interaction of Gaussian light beams with a spherical metamaterial thermal black hole (which is a an object that outperforms the Planck-Kirchhoff black body in absorption of light with a given frequency) is considered. At a given wavelength, such an object, while being optically large, has an effective absorption cross section significantly greater than its physical cross section. The Poynting vector distribution in the vicinity of such object under a few excitation scenarios is studied. It is found that the energy flow picture in the region beneath the effective event horizon of the metamaterial thermal black hole is very peculiar, with the energy flow trajectories collapsing at a couple of impact points on the physical surface of the metamaterial thermal black hole.