Solid light

Solid light is a hypothetical material, made of light in a solidified state. Theoretically, it is possible to make such a material,[1][2] and there are claims this material was already made,[3][4] including claims from MIT and Harvard.[5][6]

Theory

In theory, photons, the particles that make light, could be attracted in a nonlinear medium. In test, a laser beam fired into an extremely cold cloud of rubidium slowed down the photons and made them act as a single entity.[7][8]

Fiction

Solid light appears in video game franchises, including Halo,[9] Portal and Mass Effect.

References

  1. ↑ "Could Light Behave As A Solid? A New Theory", ScienceDaily, University of Melbourne, 7 May 2007. Retrieved on 30 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Raftery, J.; Sadri, D.; Schmidt, S.; Türeci, H. E.; Houck, A. A. "Observation of a Dissipation-Induced Classical to Quantum Transition", API Physics, Phys. Rev. X 4, 031043. Published on 8 September 2014. Retrieved on 30 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Zolfagharifard, Ellie."Have scientists accidentally created a lightsaber? New form of matter discovered that has only ever been used in science-fiction", Daily Mail, 26 September 2013. Retrieved on 30 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Freeman, David."Scientists Say They've Created A Freaky New Form Of Light", The Huffington Post, 16 September 2014. Retrieved on 30 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Reuell, Peter. "Seeing light in a new way", Harvard Gazette, 27 September 2013. Retrieved on 30 January 2016.
  6. ↑ "MIT, Harvard scientists accidentally create real-life lightsaber"Fox News, 29 September 2013. Retrieved on 30 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Firstenberg, Ofer; Peyronel, Thibault; Liang, Qi-Yu; Gorshkov, Alexey V.; Lukin, Mikhail D.; Vuletić, Vladan. "Attractive photons in a quantum nonlinear medium", Nature, 25 September 2013. Retrieved on January 30 2016.
  8. ↑ Emspak, Jesse. "'Solid Light' Made from Photons", Discovery News, 27 September 2013. Retrieved on 30 January 2016.
  9. ↑ https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/weapons/light-rifle


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.