Quantum trick of light

I don't have a grasp of how this could be used but clearly its worth the experiments.

Researchers demonstrate how light can be slowed to a halt in one box before being ejected into an entirely separate one. In these videos researcher Lene Vestergaard Hau explains how it works and why it is an exciting development. - nature.com

nature.com link

One thing occurred to me was if light slows as it gets cold how do we know that light from the other side of the universe is travelling as fast as it is here. That poses the question of are we being fooled to think the universe is as old as we think or is it older because the light is slower out there.

reply to post by majestictwo


you bring up a very good point
if we can slow down light with cold does heat speed it up?
does light travel at different speeds under different conditions ?
how does this effect our distence calculations?

i only have questions
xp

reply to post by majestictwo


ok so by super cooling sodium atoms to a billionth of degree above absolute zero you create something called a bose einstein condensate, a different matter of state where the individual atoms behave differently, almost like they are all one but still individaul (very hard to explain)

when light is tranversed through a cloud of sodium atoms they interact and the effect causes the light particals to have to push past the atoms as they do so there is a change in the way the light behaves from a partical to a wave which travels slower throught the medium of atoms

hope this helps

xploder

reply to post by XPLodER


Its helps only ever so slightly - Does bose einstein condensate occur in deep space hence slowing light?

reply to post by majestictwo


i dont know if its possable to have atoms in the state naturally in space but it is a posability
space is cold man
but i think there was a process of using lazers to slow the atoms down to remove movement/energy from them
to achieve this state of matter

xploder

Originally posted by XPLodER
reply to post by majestictwo

 

you bring up a very good point
if we can slow down light with cold does heat speed it up?
does light travel at different speeds under different conditions ?
how does this effect our distence calculations?

i only have questions
xp

I remember seeing somewhere an experiment along these lines. They were shooting light into water, at which point the light slowed to refract / bend.

reply to post by XPLodER


Yes, they were using lasers also...but as space has been measured as cold as -450 degrees F (not a whole lot warmer than absolute zero), it's an interesting thing to ponder...

In addition, I've seen several articles state the speed of light seems to be decreasing since the big bang...according to some researchers, and at least so far, I haven't seen anything to show this isn't still being debated.

reply to post by Gazrok


i did a thread about the optical effects of transitioning throught different mediums and its effect on light
you might enjoy it
www.abovetopsecret.com...

in the thread i try to show how the different mediums and boundrys in space can combine to have a lensing effect on what we optically see

if cold is able to slow light down
does heat or energy release speed it up
is there an inverse coeffecient of temperature to speed going on
as outside the helio sphere there is a local gas cloud that is surprisingly energetic and dense
this plasma cloud may also be re modulation light in unexpected ways

with the varying pressures and temperatures light may encounter as it transverses through space there may be a change in state, change in speed, change in frequency.

all these things could happen naturally in the extreams of interstella space

xp