Science Scientists create never-before-seen form of matter - Page 2

listopencil · 09-25-2013, 08:56 PM

Scientists create never-before-seen form of matter.

http://phys.org/news/2013-09-scienti...fore-seen.html

Harvard and MIT scientists are challenging the conventional wisdom about light, and they didn't need to go to a galaxy far, far away to do it.

Working with colleagues at the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, a group led by Harvard Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin and MIT Professor of Physics Vladan Vuletic have managed to coax photons into binding together to form molecules – a state of matter that, until recently, had been purely theoretical. The work is described in a September 25 paper in Nature.

The discovery, Lukin said, runs contrary to decades of accepted wisdom about the nature of light. Photons have long been described as massless particles which don't interact with each other – shine two laser beams at each other, he said, and they simply pass through one another.

"Photonic molecules," however, behave less like traditional lasers and more like something you might find in science fiction – the light saber.

"Most of the properties of light we know about originate from the fact that photons are massless, and that they do not interact with each other," Lukin said. "What we have done is create a special type of medium in which photons interact with each other so strongly that they begin to act as though they have mass, and they bind together to form molecules. This type of photonic bound state has been discussed theoretically for quite a while, but until now it hadn't been observed.

"It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to light sabers," Lukin added. "When these photons interact with each other, they're pushing against and deflect each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies."

To get the normally-massless photons to bind to each other, Lukin and colleagues, including Harvard post-doctoral fellow Ofer Fisterberg, former Harvard doctoral student Alexey Gorshkov and MIT graduate students Thibault Peyronel and Qiu Liang couldn't rely on something like the Force – they instead turned to a set of more extreme conditions.

Researchers began by pumped rubidium atoms into a vacuum chamber, then used lasers to cool the cloud of atoms to just a few degrees above absolute zero. Using extremely weak laser pulses, they then fired single photons into the cloud of atoms.

As the photons enter the cloud of cold atoms, Lukin said, its energy excites atoms along its path, causing the photon to slow dramatically. As the photon moves through the cloud, that energy is handed off from atom to atom, and eventually exits the cloud with the photon.

"When the photon exits the medium, its identity is preserved," Lukin said. "It's the same effect we see with refraction of light in a water glass. The light enters the water, it hands off part of its energy to the medium, and inside it exists as light and matter coupled together, but when it exits, it's still light. The process that takes place is the same it's just a bit more extreme – the light is slowed considerably, and a lot more energy is given away than during refraction."

When Lukin and colleagues fired two photons into the cloud, they were surprised to see them exit together, as a single molecule.

The reason they form the never-before-seen molecules?

An effect called a Rydberg blockade, Lukin said, which states that when an atom is excited, nearby atoms cannot be excited to the same degree. In practice, the effect means that as two photons enter the atomic cloud, the first excites an atom, but must move forward before the second photon can excite nearby atoms.

The result, he said, is that the two photons push and pull each other through the cloud as their energy is handed off from one atom to the next.

"It's a photonic interaction that's mediated by the atomic interaction," Lukin said. "That makes these two photons behave like a molecule, and when they exit the medium they're much more likely to do so together than as single photons."

While the effect is unusual, it does have some practical applications as well.

"We do this for fun, and because we're pushing the frontiers of science," Lukin said. "But it feeds into the bigger picture of what we're doing because photons remain the best possible means to carry quantum information. The handicap, though, has been that photons don't interact with each other."

To build a quantum computer, he explained, researchers need to build a system that can preserve quantum information, and process it using quantum logic operations. The challenge, however, is that quantum logic requires interactions between individual quanta so that quantum systems can be switched to perform information processing.

"What we demonstrate with this process allows us to do that," Lukin said. "Before we make a useful, practical quantum switch or photonic logic gate we have to improve the performance, so it's still at the proof-of-concept level, but this is an important step. The physical principles we've established here are important."

The system could even be useful in classical computing, Lukin said, considering the power-dissipation challenges chip-makers now face. A number of companies – including IBM – have worked to develop systems that rely on optical routers that convert light signals into electrical signals, but those systems face their own hurdles.

Lukin also suggested that the system might one day even be used to create complex three-dimensional structures – such as crystals – wholly out of light.

"What it will be useful for we don't know yet, but it's a new state of matter, so we are hopeful that new applications may emerge as we continue to investigate these photonic molecules' properties," he said.

SPchief · 09-25-2013, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredadda

How will we as a society be better because of this discovery? How does anyone benefit from this?

Different way to look at porn

Simply Red · 09-25-2013, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cdcox

Yep, here's the video:

that's awesome.

Demonpenz · 09-25-2013, 09:44 PM

it was just later discovered it was the goal line.

**Canofbier** · 09-25-2013, 09:47 PM

I took a while to read through that article (granted, I'm drunk) in order to better understand the purpose behind the experiment and results.

Ultimately, it sounds as though we're making significant progress in understanding the wave-particle duality of light, and potentially making steps to define it as something else entirely (which, in all likelihood, it is). Thanks for posting this!

tredadda · 09-25-2013, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

lol wut?

This is somehow being hailed as an amazing discovery. I just want to know how we as a human race or a society in general are better off because of this "amazing" discovery. I mean besides the whole light saber thing.

listopencil · 09-25-2013, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredadda

This is somehow being hailed as an amazing discovery. I just want to know how we as a human race or a society in general are better off because of this "amazing" discovery. I mean besides the whole light saber thing.

To build a quantum computer, he explained, researchers need to build a system that can preserve quantum information, and process it using quantum logic operations. The challenge, however, is that quantum logic requires interactions between individual quanta so that quantum systems can be switched to perform information processing.

"What we demonstrate with this process allows us to do that," Lukin said. "Before we make a useful, practical quantum switch or photonic logic gate we have to improve the performance, so it's still at the proof-of-concept level, but this is an important step. The physical principles we've established here are important."

**Canofbier** · 09-25-2013, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredadda

This is somehow being hailed as an amazing discovery. I just want to know how we as a human race or a society in general are better off because of this "amazing" discovery. I mean besides the whole light saber thing.

To act as though the process of understanding matter itself is a trivial pursuit is itself a demonstration of a lack of scientific understanding and curiosity.

**Dave Lane** · 09-25-2013, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravelingChiefs

Ban assault light particals

Predicable I suppose.

**Dave Lane** · 09-25-2013, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canofbier

To act as though the process of understanding matter itself is a trivial pursuit is itself a demonstration of a lack of scientific understanding and curiosity.

Or rank stupidity. I kinda give that a lean.

tredadda · 09-25-2013, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canofbier

To act as though the process of understanding matter itself is a trivial pursuit is itself a demonstration of a lack of scientific understanding and curiosity.

Never stated any of that. Just asked how we are better because of this or what wa the benefit of it. Listo actually answered the question. Thanks for not doing that.

Mr. Laz · 09-25-2013, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredadda

This is somehow being hailed as an amazing discovery. I just want to know how we as a human race or a society in general are better off because of this "amazing" discovery. I mean besides the whole light saber thing.

That's just it, right now nobody knows.

Scientific discovery is a building block effort ... one thing leads to another and another. This could be nothing or it could lead to something completely unconsidered at this point. Maybe this new matter isn't anything BUT this new process leads someone else to discover a complete new matter which turns into a new form of energy that changes our entire world.

you jaded ****er

**Dave Lane** · 09-25-2013, 09:55 PM

Oh and thanks to listopencil for the post. I'd have a man crush on him but he is a donkey after all.

**Canofbier** · 09-25-2013, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tredadda

Never stated any of that. Just asked how we are better because of this or what wa the benefit of it. Listo actually answered the question. Thanks for not doing that.

Uhh, he quoted the article that he already posted.

You're suggesting that this research as no "usable" outcome, and I'm saying that research of this kind has the potential to produce the most "practical" knowledge that there is to be gained.

tredadda · 09-25-2013, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Laz

That's just it, right now nobody knows.

Scientific discovery is a building block effort ... one thing leads to another and another. This could be nothing or it could lead to something completely unconsidered at this point. Maybe this new matter isn't anything BUT this new process leads someone else to discover a complete new matter which turns into a new form of energy that changes our entire world.

you jaded ****er

Jaded?

I am on a voyage of discovery! My question is a building block for my heightened understanding of how we benefit from this.

**Dave Lane** · 09-25-2013, 09:59 PM

The easy fruit is already off the tree. The stuff of today is far more complex. As Laz said no telling where it may go.

09-25-2013, 08:56 PM
listopencil Immanentize The Eschaton Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: In Partibus Infidelium Casino cash: $2255880	Scientists create never-before-seen form of matter Scientists create never-before-seen form of matter. http://phys.org/news/2013-09-scienti...fore-seen.html Harvard and MIT scientists are challenging the conventional wisdom about light, and they didn't need to go to a galaxy far, far away to do it. Working with colleagues at the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold Atoms, a group led by Harvard Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin and MIT Professor of Physics Vladan Vuletic have managed to coax photons into binding together to form molecules – a state of matter that, until recently, had been purely theoretical. The work is described in a September 25 paper in Nature. The discovery, Lukin said, runs contrary to decades of accepted wisdom about the nature of light. Photons have long been described as massless particles which don't interact with each other – shine two laser beams at each other, he said, and they simply pass through one another. "Photonic molecules," however, behave less like traditional lasers and more like something you might find in science fiction – the light saber. "Most of the properties of light we know about originate from the fact that photons are massless, and that they do not interact with each other," Lukin said. "What we have done is create a special type of medium in which photons interact with each other so strongly that they begin to act as though they have mass, and they bind together to form molecules. This type of photonic bound state has been discussed theoretically for quite a while, but until now it hadn't been observed. "It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to light sabers," Lukin added. "When these photons interact with each other, they're pushing against and deflect each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies." To get the normally-massless photons to bind to each other, Lukin and colleagues, including Harvard post-doctoral fellow Ofer Fisterberg, former Harvard doctoral student Alexey Gorshkov and MIT graduate students Thibault Peyronel and Qiu Liang couldn't rely on something like the Force – they instead turned to a set of more extreme conditions. Researchers began by pumped rubidium atoms into a vacuum chamber, then used lasers to cool the cloud of atoms to just a few degrees above absolute zero. Using extremely weak laser pulses, they then fired single photons into the cloud of atoms. As the photons enter the cloud of cold atoms, Lukin said, its energy excites atoms along its path, causing the photon to slow dramatically. As the photon moves through the cloud, that energy is handed off from atom to atom, and eventually exits the cloud with the photon. "When the photon exits the medium, its identity is preserved," Lukin said. "It's the same effect we see with refraction of light in a water glass. The light enters the water, it hands off part of its energy to the medium, and inside it exists as light and matter coupled together, but when it exits, it's still light. The process that takes place is the same it's just a bit more extreme – the light is slowed considerably, and a lot more energy is given away than during refraction." When Lukin and colleagues fired two photons into the cloud, they were surprised to see them exit together, as a single molecule. The reason they form the never-before-seen molecules? An effect called a Rydberg blockade, Lukin said, which states that when an atom is excited, nearby atoms cannot be excited to the same degree. In practice, the effect means that as two photons enter the atomic cloud, the first excites an atom, but must move forward before the second photon can excite nearby atoms. The result, he said, is that the two photons push and pull each other through the cloud as their energy is handed off from one atom to the next. "It's a photonic interaction that's mediated by the atomic interaction," Lukin said. "That makes these two photons behave like a molecule, and when they exit the medium they're much more likely to do so together than as single photons." While the effect is unusual, it does have some practical applications as well. "We do this for fun, and because we're pushing the frontiers of science," Lukin said. "But it feeds into the bigger picture of what we're doing because photons remain the best possible means to carry quantum information. The handicap, though, has been that photons don't interact with each other." To build a quantum computer, he explained, researchers need to build a system that can preserve quantum information, and process it using quantum logic operations. The challenge, however, is that quantum logic requires interactions between individual quanta so that quantum systems can be switched to perform information processing. "What we demonstrate with this process allows us to do that," Lukin said. "Before we make a useful, practical quantum switch or photonic logic gate we have to improve the performance, so it's still at the proof-of-concept level, but this is an important step. The physical principles we've established here are important." The system could even be useful in classical computing, Lukin said, considering the power-dissipation challenges chip-makers now face. A number of companies – including IBM – have worked to develop systems that rely on optical routers that convert light signals into electrical signals, but those systems face their own hurdles. Lukin also suggested that the system might one day even be used to create complex three-dimensional structures – such as crystals – wholly out of light. "What it will be useful for we don't know yet, but it's a new state of matter, so we are hopeful that new applications may emerge as we continue to investigate these photonic molecules' properties," he said.
Posts: 55,922

09-25-2013, 09:44 PM	#18
Demonpenz I got Rice cookin in the micro Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Apartment "G UNIT!" Casino cash: $3152136	it was just later discovered it was the goal line. __________________
Posts: 54,267

09-25-2013, 09:47 PM	#19
Canofbier ¡RIOS MIO! Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Minneapolis Casino cash: $6046981	I took a while to read through that article (granted, I'm drunk) in order to better understand the purpose behind the experiment and results. Ultimately, it sounds as though we're making significant progress in understanding the wave-particle duality of light, and potentially making steps to define it as something else entirely (which, in all likelihood, it is). Thanks for posting this!
Posts: 4,303

09-25-2013, 09:55 PM	#27
Dave Lane Space Cadet and Aczabel Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Kanab, UT, USA Casino cash: $9333275 VARSITY	Oh and thanks to listopencil for the post. I'd have a man crush on him but he is a donkey after all. __________________ Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about RICO, espionage, sedition, impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more.
Posts: 40,584

09-25-2013, 09:59 PM	#30
Dave Lane Space Cadet and Aczabel Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Kanab, UT, USA Casino cash: $9333275 VARSITY	The easy fruit is already off the tree. The stuff of today is far more complex. As Laz said no telling where it may go. __________________ Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about RICO, espionage, sedition, impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more.
Posts: 40,584