Using BEC to Slow Down Light

More at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAGPAb4obs8 - By use of a Bose--Einstein condensate, Danish physicist Lene Vestergaard Hau (Harvard University) succeeded in slowing a beam of light to about 17 metres per second, and, in 2001, was able to momentarily stop a beam.

About a decade ago, Hau started playing with BECs — for a physicist, that means shooting lasers at them. She found that lasers of the right wavelengths could tune the optical properties of a BEC, giving Hau an almost supernatural command over any other light shined into it.

Her first trick was slowing a pulse of light to a crawl — 15 mph as it traveled through the BEC. Since then, Hau has completely frozen a pulse and then released it. And recently she shot a pulse into one BEC and stopped it — turning the BEC into a hologram, a sort of matter version of the pulse. Then she transferred that matter waveform into an entirely different BEC nearby — which emitted the original light pulse. That's just freaky. Hey, Einstein may have set that initial speed limit of light, but he only theorized about BECs. "It's not breaking relativity," Hau says. "But I'm sure he would have been rather surprised."

Taken from a 2007 NOVA documentary "Absolute Zero".
More on Bose--Einstein condensate at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAGPAb4obs8

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[spaceshipidentified]

Inside our head we can see forever I should know I have been billions of years into the future & as far out in the unknown past all the galaxies the Hubble can see 7 my brain can support it.Is this the Matrix yes & no.We are here in this reality but the brain has way of letting people see what they want to see & believe in a lie some obviously crazy like religion.So in a way our minds can trap us look at religion they are lost in their forever lie that trapped them in confusion like the matrix.

[retafmil]

@spaceshipidentified - Fascinating! As in . . . "On a clear day, you can see forever". Thanks for that -- I appreciate your point of view.

[Gasharca]

@maverickplabs do you also train martial arts? I discovered that this is the second, but less common physicisy clisce :P

[maverickplabs]

Am I the only physicist that looks like he hasn't been in the depths of a bunker for a few years suffering from some form of post dramatic stress disorder. Einstein had the sexy going on. Just cut the island of hair off for god's sake. Use some of that liquid helium to break the protein structure of that hair away. I found my new side job; help physicists to look better and healthier...and to have better haircuts. Lovely topic though!!! Quantum leap I would say...

[warpcrash]

quantum computer engineer , nice job, since know one has made one yet :)

[mrcooldudelikefood]

this guy has the most epic haircut ever

[linkuei83]

@Szymek25 when you believe in god, you get an imaginary friend. Science however is honest and pure.

[maso0n]

@Szymek25 Since when did we need to be sure about everything in life? Religion is for people don't have faith in their self and need false hope.

[Szymek25]

@maso0n

Physics is a science without any end. You can't be sure or any physical law cause you never know when it become inactual and wrong. For your each question you also get unsure answer and few other questions. That's why physics is like magic, you never know what you will discover next ;)

When you belive in God you are sure that some things are sure, unchangable and that there is sense in everything and truth and end of our searching not only another black whole is dark infinity :)

[simoncpu]

3:11 I see what you did there! Nice...