Light and matter united
Lene Hau has already shaken scientists’
beliefs about the nature of things. But, stopping and restarting
light...?
Lene Hau has already shaken scientists’
beliefs about the nature of things. Albert Einstein and just about every other
physicist insisted that light travels 186,000 miles a second in free space, and
that it can’t be speeded-up or slowed down. But in 1998, Hau, for the
first time in history, slowed light to 38 miles an hour, about the speed of
rush-hour traffic.
Two years later, she brought light to a complete halt in a cloud of ultracold atoms. Next, she restarted the stalled light without changing any of its characteristics, and sent it on its way.
Now, Hau has done it again. She and her team made a light pulse disappear from one cold cloud then retrieved it from another cloud nearby. In the process, light was converted into matter then back into light. For the first time in history, this gives science a way to control light with matter and vice versa.
It’s a thing that most scientists never thought was possible. Some colleagues had asked Hau, “Why try that experiment? It can’t be done.”
She has no doubt practical systems will eventually flow from her research — but, that’s not what she does. Her work continues to meet the standard for basic research. I wonder what she’ll aim for next?
Two years later, she brought light to a complete halt in a cloud of ultracold atoms. Next, she restarted the stalled light without changing any of its characteristics, and sent it on its way.
Now, Hau has done it again. She and her team made a light pulse disappear from one cold cloud then retrieved it from another cloud nearby. In the process, light was converted into matter then back into light. For the first time in history, this gives science a way to control light with matter and vice versa.
It’s a thing that most scientists never thought was possible. Some colleagues had asked Hau, “Why try that experiment? It can’t be done.”
She has no doubt practical systems will eventually flow from her research — but, that’s not what she does. Her work continues to meet the standard for basic research. I wonder what she’ll aim for next?
Posted: Mon - February 12, 2007 at 08:49 AM