Physicists Successfully Tie Light in Knots!

reply to post by kiwifoot


whoa! does this mean light can go around corners without reflecting/refracting off something?

this is like programmable energy...

Man all I can think about right now is my very own lightsaber though I imagine, not being force sensitive, I would kill myself instantly.

Still though what a way to go. OP you made my morning with this news.

Cheers

This makes me think of Ronald L. Mallett and his quest to build a time machine (didn't he need looping lazers for that?)... Any chance that others don't find his quest all that crazy? And that this discovery is directly related?

Originally posted by muzzleflash
Some info I dug up while reading about this cool find.

en.wikipedia.org...

"Light can be twisted like a corkscrew around its axis of travel. Because of the twisting, the light waves at the axis itself cancel each other out. When projected onto a flat surface, an optical vortex looks like a ring of light, with a dark hole in the center. This corkscrew of light, with darkness at the center, is called an optical vortex."

Whoever wrote this on wiki made it real simple to grasp.

"An optical vortex (also known as a screw dislocation or phase singularity) is a zero of an optical field, a point of zero intensity. Research into the properties of vortices has thrived since a comprehensive paper by Nye and Berry, in 1974,[1] described the basic properties of "dislocations in wave trains". The research that followed became the core of what is now known as "singular optics"."

This is one of the components for figuring out how to make the future computer also.

"Current computers use electrons which have two states, zero and one. Quantum computing could use light to encode and store information. Optical vortices theoretically have an infinite number of states, as there is no limit to the topological charge. This could allow for faster data manipulation. The cryptography community is also interested in optical vortices, as they can communicate using a higher bandwidth of information. However, that will need further developments in optical fibers, since existing optical fibers change the twist of optical vortices when bent or stressed."

So we need better optical fiber tech now.

Hey Mate, thanks for that info!

Have been at work all day so unable to say that.

It's a really exciting development for sure. But I guess it will be years before we see practical applications.


All the best, kiwifoot

great more technology the gove can manipulate to assist the new world order. there is no need for them to manipulate light like that. it doesn't mention some of the destructive things they could do with it. i'm completely against all technology

Originally posted by sqeaks
great more technology the gove can manipulate to assist the new world order. there is no need for them to manipulate light like that. it doesn't mention some of the destructive things they could do with it. i'm completely against all technology

Errr dude, you know that thing in front of you, that you tapped away on to write your reply, yeah, the one with the screen, well guess what???


TECHNOLOGY!

i don't see how anyone can see this as posotive, the more technology the world gets the more problems we have and farther away we sail from reality

Please excuse me for not knowing much, but how is this beneficial or applicable?

Originally posted by sqeaks
i don't see how anyone can see this as posotive, the more technology the world gets the more problems we have and farther away we sail from reality

Because tribes in caves never slaughtered or enslaved other tribes...

The problem is not technology (or religion or political ideas). The problem is man. The darkness in our hearts corrupts all things (technology, religion, political ideas, etc).

Every problem we have today (other than natural disaster) can be traced to the greedy, hateful, lying hearts of men. Period.

Now... lets get back to the topic at hand: OMG LIGHTSABER TECHNOLOGY!!!! WOOOO!!!

if they can tie it in a knot i bet they could bend it in on itself... maybe creating a dark field.

reply to post by sqeaks


Um , I think you may be getting confused. For a start, let me tell you that the only way we are going to advance as a species is by updating our current technology to be more refined and energy efficient. Just switching off , or preventing the invention of, more technology is not going to benifit us one iota.
We are at a stage where some of our tech cannot be merely powered down without catastrophic consequence, like nuclear reactors on land and on ships and subs at sea. The only way things will get better for us , is when the big energy companies take responsibility for the years and years of blocking they have done when it comes to preventing the rise of the water engine , and making new engine designers sit on thier hands, even though some have had ideas that could change the world.
The ONLY problem that technology causes , is power consumption, which is only a problem because we are FORCED by lack of alternatives to use harmful power sources. The moment the available technology to remove that issue , becomes mainstream, there will cease to BE a problem.
Dont forget that technology has saved as much as it has broken, and then a bit. Heart monitors, CT scanners, graphical software, xray machines. All these things have saved lives and more besides them . You cannot lump all these things in with nuclear bombs and depleted uranium bullets.

I link to an other post ....

AREA 51 : Light that can move objects

reply to post by TrueBrit


What is merely important : is .... HUMANITY, HUMAN BEING

don't care what technology they use : more technology means less work : means ..... ?

Less people ? Because they don't have a good job ? Because there is no more real job (because of the technology, robots, industrial plant, energy, ).

Or ?

Do you think "the right number" of people and their child should live in a descent way : in openness, humanism...

What is the right number ? The more people that 'our' planet earth (and other being) can sustannibly support !

[edit on 19-1-2010 by psychederic]

Originally posted by muzzleflash

"Current computers use electrons which have two states, zero and one. Quantum computing could use light to encode and store information. Optical vortices theoretically have an infinite number of states, as there is no limit to the topological charge.

[edit on 18-1-2010 by muzzleflash]

[edit on 18-1-2010 by muzzleflash]

Just curious as to the source of this. the part about the electrons sounds like it's talking about digital information and not electrons themselves.
definitely a cool concept manipulating light though. who knows just how this concept could be applied.

s914.photobucket.com... what the universities are showing resembles neon tubes, not very impressive.

"Along these lines, or optical vortices, the intensity of the light is zero (black). The light all around us is filled with these dark lines, even though we can't see them."

This sounds like nonsense. "We are spending millions on this research of light that we can't see." How is that optical?

reply to post by psychederic


Think about this for a moment. If the technology existed, which would allow each individual household to be solely responsible for its energy production, how many filthy corperate suits would be made jobless? That can only be a good thing right ? The whole energy market would dissolve and energy would be free, and the responsibility of the user to collect.
In that situation those who loose the hands on technical jobs, could be employed by large companies to run thier buildings energy collection plants (solar, wind, tidal, whatever) and the scumy suits who earn money for NOTHING in the energy industry would have to actualy WORK for money , for the first time in history!