>That should rule out light, since photons are massless…creating quasiparticles called polaritons.The team admits that technically it’s these polaritons, which do have mass, that are casting the shadow. But on the other hand, polaritons are still half-photons,
So, photons are massless, but their half-particles. polaritons, do have mass…
It’s not yet half past 9 on a Saturday morning and already I’ve realised how little my brain is in comparison to the wealth of the universe. I wonder how many other facts I’ll learn today that I know I’ll never understand.
alangcarter on
This seems to be a simpler use of a nonlinear optical medium than [phase conjugate mirrors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_optics#Optical_phase_conjugation). If they don’t reawaken the sense of wonder geeky kids get out of physics nothing will! (They are also the reason retaliation will outperform attack when using laser weapons.)
patricksaurus on
I expected this to be a flavor of interference, but the actual effect is much cooler. Now I can daydream about possible applications.
robertomeyers on
Maybe stupid question. Can anyone confirm this was done in a vacuum? I assume they wanted to rule out excited air molecules as the mass.
frosted1030 on
No citations yet.. given the newness I expect the reproduction of this effect first and plenty of review before anything can be confirmed.
hpmd50s on
Maybe a thermal lensing effect where the laser heats up the ruby, changing its local refractive index and creating a little lens that deflects the other laser?
ABob71 on
I wonder how this can be applied to astronomy- can light shadows from things like quasars reveal anything?
hammylite on
Wouldn’t this mean it can be used as an optical transistor?
ZadfrackGlutz on
Basically light can move mass….in the form of those quasi photons, from the ruby.
Gstamsharp on
“Light pushes mass. That mass casts shadow.”
monkeysareright on
Pretty cool, it’s basically an optical transistor without directly using electrons
incognino123 on
Misleading headline, green light is manipulating the ruby to absorb more blue light, the ruby is casting the shadow as the term is used
I_love-tacos on
Question, wouldn’t you be able to build a transistor out of this? It would be infinitely faster and I assume no heat
florinandrei on
Bullshit title.
One light beam passes through a material (ruby). It modifies the material. The modified material casts a shadow when illuminated with a second light beam. Boring.
creepythingseeker on
When light isnt being observed in a lab setting, it can often not be seeing smoking as well.
hibernial on
OMG does this mean I can actually become a shadow scientist and study shadows? This is soo metal
QuantumCrutches on
I wonder if you could use this in lithography to make extremely detailed designs
Youngringer on
can someone explain this like I’m stoned
Polar_Vortx on
tbf “eh kinda sorta not really but more than you’d think” seems to be the usual when it comes to light
moschles on
High powered lasers that emit UV light can ionize the air. You can construct such a laser in your own home if you know what you’re doing.
21 Comments
[removed]
>That should rule out light, since photons are massless…creating quasiparticles called polaritons.The team admits that technically it’s these polaritons, which do have mass, that are casting the shadow. But on the other hand, polaritons are still half-photons,
So, photons are massless, but their half-particles. polaritons, do have mass…
It’s not yet half past 9 on a Saturday morning and already I’ve realised how little my brain is in comparison to the wealth of the universe. I wonder how many other facts I’ll learn today that I know I’ll never understand.
This seems to be a simpler use of a nonlinear optical medium than [phase conjugate mirrors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonlinear_optics#Optical_phase_conjugation). If they don’t reawaken the sense of wonder geeky kids get out of physics nothing will! (They are also the reason retaliation will outperform attack when using laser weapons.)
I expected this to be a flavor of interference, but the actual effect is much cooler. Now I can daydream about possible applications.
Maybe stupid question. Can anyone confirm this was done in a vacuum? I assume they wanted to rule out excited air molecules as the mass.
No citations yet.. given the newness I expect the reproduction of this effect first and plenty of review before anything can be confirmed.
Maybe a thermal lensing effect where the laser heats up the ruby, changing its local refractive index and creating a little lens that deflects the other laser?
I wonder how this can be applied to astronomy- can light shadows from things like quasars reveal anything?
Wouldn’t this mean it can be used as an optical transistor?
Basically light can move mass….in the form of those quasi photons, from the ruby.
“Light pushes mass. That mass casts shadow.”
Pretty cool, it’s basically an optical transistor without directly using electrons
Misleading headline, green light is manipulating the ruby to absorb more blue light, the ruby is casting the shadow as the term is used
Question, wouldn’t you be able to build a transistor out of this? It would be infinitely faster and I assume no heat
Bullshit title.
One light beam passes through a material (ruby). It modifies the material. The modified material casts a shadow when illuminated with a second light beam. Boring.
When light isnt being observed in a lab setting, it can often not be seeing smoking as well.
OMG does this mean I can actually become a shadow scientist and study shadows? This is soo metal
I wonder if you could use this in lithography to make extremely detailed designs
can someone explain this like I’m stoned
tbf “eh kinda sorta not really but more than you’d think” seems to be the usual when it comes to light
High powered lasers that emit UV light can ionize the air. You can construct such a laser in your own home if you know what you’re doing.