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Trey Brister · 08-23-05, 11:58 PM

Scientists Mess with the Speed of Light

Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com Fri Aug 19, 4:00 PM ET

Researchers in Switzerland have succeeded in breaking the cosmic speed limit by getting light to go faster than, well, light.
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Or is it all an illusion?

Scientists have recently succeeded in doing all sorts of fancy things with light, including slowing it down and even stopping it all together. Now a team at the Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland is controlling the speed of light using simple off-the-shelf optical fibers, without the aid of special media such as cold gases or crystalline solids like in other experiments.

"This has the enormous advantage of being a simple, inexpensive procedure that works at any wavelength," said Luc Thvenaz, lead author of the study detailing the research.

Using a technique called Stimulated Brillouin Scattering, the researchers were able to slow down or ratchet up the speed of light like the gas pedal on a car. They succeeded in reducing the speed of light by almost a factor of 4 (although that's still plenty fast at 46,500 miles per second), but even more dramatically, the team was also able to speed up the speed of light.

Light in a vacuum travels at approximately 186,000 miles per second, but a popular misconception is that, according to Einstein's special theory of relativity, nothing in the universe can travel faster than this speed.

This seeming paradox can be resolved because a pulse of light is actually made up of many separate frequency components, each of which moves at their own velocities. This is known as the pulse's phase velocity. If all the frequency components have the same phase velocity, then the overall pulse will also appear to move at that velocity.

However, if the components have different phase velocities, then the pulse's overall velocity will depend on the relationships between the velocities of the separate components. If the velocities differ, the pulse is said to be moving at the group velocity.

By tweaking the relationship between phase velocities, it's possible to adjust the group velocity and create the illusion that parts of the pulse are traveling faster than the speed of light.

One area where such an advance could be enormously beneficial is in the telecommunications industry.

Although information can be channeled through fiber optics at the speed of light, it can't be processed at this speed because with current technologies, light signals must be transformed into much slower electrical signals before they are useful.

Thevenaz's technique would essentially allow light to be processed with light without a costly electrical conversion.

The group's research will be published in an August 22nd issue of the journal Applied Physics Letters.

* New Theory: How to Make Objects Invisible
* Light Packets Slow to Jet Speed
* Blue Skies Only In the Eye of the Beholder
* Physicists Bring Light to a Stop

Visit LiveScience.com for more daily news, views and scientific inquiry with an original, provocative point of view. LiveScience reports amazing, real world breakthroughs, made simple and stimulating for people on the go. Check out our collection of Amazing Images, Image Galleries, Interactive Features, Trivia and more. Sign up for our free daily email newsletter today!

Hey Bubu · 08-24-05, 02:04 PM

I remember reading something about a guy named Bruce Cathie whom had suppossedly come up with the following equation (Solve for light btw)

Einstein E = MC2

Cathie M = C + 1 / sq rt C

Therefore E = (C + 1 / sq rt C) C2

and on a similar note, the whole light bending thing is what scientists used during the Philadelphia experiment. Whether is true or not well....

question · 08-24-05, 03:07 PM

This guy has the most viable theory for achievable time travel, and he's using light in crazy ways.

http://www.walterzeichner.com/thezfiles/timetravel.html

08-23-05, 11:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
Trey Brister Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Mansfield / S. Arlington Area Posts: 535	Scientists Mess with the Speed of Light Scientists Mess with the Speed of Light Ker Than LiveScience Staff Writer LiveScience.com Fri Aug 19, 4:00 PM ET Researchers in Switzerland have succeeded in breaking the cosmic speed limit by getting light to go faster than, well, light. ADVERTISEMENT ZIP code where you park at night. Do you currently have auto insurance? Yes No Have you had a U.S driver's license for more than 3 years? Yes No Has any driver in your household had 2 or more accidents or moving violations in the last 3 years? Yes No Or is it all an illusion? Scientists have recently succeeded in doing all sorts of fancy things with light, including slowing it down and even stopping it all together. Now a team at the Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland is controlling the speed of light using simple off-the-shelf optical fibers, without the aid of special media such as cold gases or crystalline solids like in other experiments. "This has the enormous advantage of being a simple, inexpensive procedure that works at any wavelength," said Luc Thvenaz, lead author of the study detailing the research. Using a technique called Stimulated Brillouin Scattering, the researchers were able to slow down or ratchet up the speed of light like the gas pedal on a car. They succeeded in reducing the speed of light by almost a factor of 4 (although that's still plenty fast at 46,500 miles per second), but even more dramatically, the team was also able to speed up the speed of light. Light in a vacuum travels at approximately 186,000 miles per second, but a popular misconception is that, according to Einstein's special theory of relativity, nothing in the universe can travel faster than this speed. This seeming paradox can be resolved because a pulse of light is actually made up of many separate frequency components, each of which moves at their own velocities. This is known as the pulse's phase velocity. If all the frequency components have the same phase velocity, then the overall pulse will also appear to move at that velocity. However, if the components have different phase velocities, then the pulse's overall velocity will depend on the relationships between the velocities of the separate components. If the velocities differ, the pulse is said to be moving at the group velocity. By tweaking the relationship between phase velocities, it's possible to adjust the group velocity and create the illusion that parts of the pulse are traveling faster than the speed of light. One area where such an advance could be enormously beneficial is in the telecommunications industry. Although information can be channeled through fiber optics at the speed of light, it can't be processed at this speed because with current technologies, light signals must be transformed into much slower electrical signals before they are useful. Thevenaz's technique would essentially allow light to be processed with light without a costly electrical conversion. The group's research will be published in an August 22nd issue of the journal Applied Physics Letters. * New Theory: How to Make Objects Invisible * Light Packets Slow to Jet Speed * Blue Skies Only In the Eye of the Beholder * Physicists Bring Light to a Stop Visit LiveScience.com for more daily news, views and scientific inquiry with an original, provocative point of view. LiveScience reports amazing, real world breakthroughs, made simple and stimulating for people on the go. Check out our collection of Amazing Images, Image Galleries, Interactive Features, Trivia and more. Sign up for our free daily email newsletter today! __________________ Warm Regards, Trey Brister Nature abhors a vacuum and religion is a powerful civilizing and socializing force. It is not perfect, but at least it does not deny human nature. Most leftest ideology is based upon the idea that evil is the result of social conditions/injustice, and simple misunderstandings. Man's nature is seen as both inherently good and infinitely malleable. It is believed that man can be made into something better through education and other social endeavors. The truth is that human nature is not inherently good and neither is terribly changable. Any system that denies the truth about human nature will be the victim of it. Communism is only one of the more horrific examples of this fundamental truth. I understand why you're a socialist. You want to make the world a better place. What you need to understand is that not everyone can be helped and those who can are best served by providing them with the opportunity to help themselves.

08-24-05, 02:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
Hey Bubu Funky Spunk Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: take a left at the cow Posts: 17,124	I remember reading something about a guy named Bruce Cathie whom had suppossedly come up with the following equation (Solve for light btw) Einstein E = MC2 Cathie M = C + 1 / sq rt C Therefore E = (C + 1 / sq rt C) C2 and on a similar note, the whole light bending thing is what scientists used during the Philadelphia experiment. Whether is true or not well.... __________________ "We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about." --Joseph Campbell,

08-24-05, 03:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
question Foolish Bastard Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Downtown Posts: 5,321	This guy has the most viable theory for achievable time travel, and he's using light in crazy ways. http://www.walterzeichner.com/thezfiles/timetravel.html __________________ True, without falsehood, certain and most true, that which is above is the same as that which is below, and that which is below is the same as that which is above, for the performance of miracles of the One Thing. And as all things are from the One, by the meditation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation.

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