Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Reversing And Accelerating The Speed Of Light
Space Daily ^ | Jul 25, 2006 | Staff Writers

Posted on 07/25/2006 10:13:18 AM PDT by Ben Mugged

Physicist Costas Soukoulis and his research group at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory on the Iowa State University campus are having the time of their lives making light travel backwards at negative speeds that appear faster than the speed of light.

~snip~ This backward-bending characteristic of metamaterials allows enhanced resolution in optical lenses, which could potentially lead to the development of a flat superlens with the power to see inside a human cell and diagnose disease in a baby still in the womb.

~snip~ In addition, Soukoulis and his University of Karlsruhe colleagues have also shown that both the velocity of the individual wavelengths, called phase velocity, and the velocity of the wave packets, called group velocity, are both negative, which Soukoulis said accounts for the ability of negatively refracted light to seemingly defy Einstein's theory of relativity and move backwards faster than the speed of light.

Elaborating, Soukoulis said, "When we have a metamaterial with a negative index of refraction at 1.5 micrometers that can disperse, or separate a wave into spectral components with different wavelengths, we can tune our lasers to play a lot of games with light. We can have a wavepacket hit a slab of negative index material, appear on the right-hand side of the material and begin to flow backward before the original pulse enters the negative index medium."

Continuing, he explained that the pulse flowing backward also releases a forward pulse out the end of the medium, a situation that causes the pulse entering the front of the material appear to move out the back almost instantly.

"In this way, one can argue that that the wave packet travels with velocities much higher than the velocities of light," said Soukoulis.

(Excerpt) Read more at spacedaily.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Technical
KEYWORDS: physics; science; speedoflight
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-74 next last
To: Just another Joe

That's unlikely to affect this research, any more than it affects research on superconducters.


21 posted on 07/25/2006 11:04:45 AM PDT by js1138 (Well I say there are some things we don't want to know! Important things!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: FreedomNeocon
I never was totally comfortable with the whole "Light is both a wave and a particle" explanation.

It's not a cop-out.

It's that the universe fundamentally operates in ways a lot different that our extremely narrow perceptions indicate.

It's that "waves" and "particles" are in fact the same thing, just showing certain facets more promenantly than others (kinda like the outside of your head looks a lot different than the inside).

22 posted on 07/25/2006 11:05:28 AM PDT by ctdonath2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Just another Joe

The Wright brothers were asked a similar question.


23 posted on 07/25/2006 11:06:02 AM PDT by ctdonath2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: FreedomNeocon

I guess it's sort of like when you see movies of automobiles and the wheels look like they are turning backwards. Of course, they aren't really turning backwards, but because the shutter speed of the video or movie camera is different from the speed that the wheels on the vehicle are rotating, they look like the wheels are moving backward.

Very rough analogy, but I don't know how else to explain it.


24 posted on 07/25/2006 11:09:10 AM PDT by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Brilliant
Yeah, I understand that, but what kind of an analogy can you come up with that the average guy would understand?

I've illustrated the "photonic bandgap" problem as a long train leaving Washington D.C. for Baltimore, where the length of the train is a significant fraction of the distance between the cities. The train is not said to "leave" or "arrive" until the center of the train gets to the station. Just as the train is approaching Baltimore, the engine detaches from the rest of the train, and it "arrives" in Baltimore when the center of the engine gets to the station, which happens to be in record time.

25 posted on 07/25/2006 11:15:30 AM PDT by Physicist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Ben Mugged
Einstein must be spinning like a top

No this is not strange.

Although somewhat counterintuitive, a negative index of refraction doesn't break any laws of physics because the math works out, said Schultz. In fact Russian physicist V. G. Veselago pointed this out in a little-known paper published in 1968, Schultz said.

All electromagnetic waves harbor both electric and magnetic fields. In order to have a negative index of refraction, a material must have both a negative electrical field, or permittivity, and a negative magnetic field, or permeability.

A material's index of refraction is the square of its permittivity times its permeability. The counterintuitive part is, because a negative number times a negative number is a positive number, it seems like the index of refraction is destined to remain positive. "When you go to take that square root, if you are a little sloppy you think of it also as positive. But because the negative of the square root can be positive or negative," it is mathematically possible to get a negative index of refraction, said Schultz.
http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/041101/Material_bends_microwaves_backwards_041101.html
26 posted on 07/25/2006 11:17:34 AM PDT by AdmSmith
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Just another Joe

"Give me a practical application that will help the common man.......in the next 7 years."

Did you read the article? No? Well why should we do your work for you?


27 posted on 07/25/2006 11:22:11 AM PDT by MineralMan (non-evangelical atheist)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Physicist

Nice try. I'm not sure that would clear it up to the average guy, though.


Another way I've heard it explained is in reference to water waves... Drop a stone in the water and watch the waves. It's not just one wave, but several ripples which spread out in concentric circles from the point of impact. The wave front moves at a specific rate of speed, which is the group velocity analogous to the speed of light, but if you look at each ripple in the group, and follow it carefully, then you will notice that each ripple starts at the inside of the circle of waves, then slowly moves up the pack until it is on the outside of the wave packet. Obviously, the ripples are each moving faster than the wave packet as a whole. That is the phase velocity.

But it's still a little esoteric for the Bud Light crowd.


28 posted on 07/25/2006 11:25:59 AM PDT by Brilliant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: MineralMan; ctdonath2; js1138
Did you read the thread before you posted to me?

If you did you would have seen that I did read the article and saw no practical application affecting the common man in the next X years.

I'm not saying the research shouldn't be done.
Great things have come out of research that no one thought was important.
I wanted to know if anyone saw a practical application for this in the next 7 years.

29 posted on 07/25/2006 11:55:00 AM PDT by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: MineralMan; ctdonath2; js1138
Did you read the thread before you posted to me?

If you did you would have seen that I did read the article and saw no practical application affecting the common man in the next X years.

I'm not saying the research shouldn't be done.
Great things have come out of research that no one thought was important.
I wanted to know if anyone saw a practical application for this in the next 7 years.

30 posted on 07/25/2006 11:55:35 AM PDT by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Ben Mugged

I'm proud to say that I passed Classical Physics at Iowa State. In my experience, the tests there were every bit as difficult to understand as this.


31 posted on 07/25/2006 11:56:20 AM PDT by IronJack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MineralMan; ctdonath2; js1138

Sorry about the double post, my PC hiccuped.


32 posted on 07/25/2006 11:59:20 AM PDT by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Just another Joe

Time warp due to a negative index of refraction.


33 posted on 07/25/2006 12:03:27 PM PDT by js1138 (Well I say there are some things we don't want to know! Important things!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: js1138
Time warp due to a negative index of refraction.

Would that be in the next 7 years, or the past 7 years? (jk) ;^)

34 posted on 07/25/2006 12:05:28 PM PDT by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Ben Mugged
I disagree with the next post. Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light and you CAN'T travel back in time!!!
35 posted on 07/25/2006 12:07:41 PM PDT by PMCarey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ben Mugged
I think faster-than-light travel would be great and I look forward to travelling backward in time! Comments?
36 posted on 07/25/2006 12:07:47 PM PDT by PMCarey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ben Mugged

mark it for later


37 posted on 07/25/2006 12:13:07 PM PDT by mike70
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreedomNeocon
[I never was totally comfortable with the whole "Light is both a wave and a particle" explanation. Seemed like a similar cop-out to the whole dark matter idea when calculating the mass of the universe, or the entire understanding of 'strong' and 'weak' nuclear forces.]



Nobody should be satisfied with it. I think it's just a useful analogy physics teachers have come up with to try to help students solve physics equations. As far as I can tell, the analogy breaks down as a meaningful way of intuitively understanding just what's going on with the fundamental pieces of the universe. NOBODY intuitively understands that yet.
38 posted on 07/25/2006 12:17:31 PM PDT by spinestein (Follow "The Bronze Rule")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Ben Mugged

186,000 miles per second. Its not just a good idea, its the law.


39 posted on 07/25/2006 12:19:24 PM PDT by LegionofDorkness (A Proud South Park Conservative)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ben Mugged
Mark for later read:


40 posted on 07/25/2006 12:19:29 PM PDT by AxelPaulsenJr (Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-74 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson