A research group from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology reports in Nature an unprecedented achievement in electron microscopy: the direct measurement of "dark points" within light waves. By doing so, the researchers were able to confirm a prediction from the 1970s that the speed of these points exceeds the speed of light.

…The “dark points” measured by the group are essentially tiny “holes” in the wave structure. Known as vortices, the holes are a common phenomenon in nature: We encounter them in ocean waves, in air currents, and even in coffee when we stir it or pour it into the sink. As early as the 1970s, a surprising theoretical prediction was proposed: Vortices may move faster than the wave in which they are formed. As strange as it sounds—imagine a vortex in a river overtaking the flow of water in which it exists—the phenomenon is real. Until now, this was based on theory. The research team’s achievement has now confirmed it experimentally…

"Our discovery reveals universal laws of nature shared by all types of waves, from sound waves and fluid flows to complex systems such as superconductors. This breakthrough provides us with a powerful technological tool: the ability to map the motion of delicate nanoscale phenomena in materials, revealed through a new method (electron interferometry) that enhances image sharpness.

“We believe these innovative microscopy techniques will enable the study of hidden processes in physics, chemistry, and biology, revealing for the first time how nature behaves in its fastest and most elusive moments.”…

  • givesomefucksEnglish
    8·
    2 days ago

    So what exactly are these entities? According to the Technion researchers, these light vortices are “zero points,” or “nulls,” within light waves—locations where the wave’s amplitude drops to zero. In simpler terms, they are points of complete darkness embedded within the light field.

    And more importantly, only observed when light is slowed 100x so it operates like other types of waves.

    We don’t know if it will actually happen when the light is moving at the speed of light.

    And it’s hard to really say “nothing” is moving, it’s being propelled by different waves, so every peak pushes it into the next wave whose peak does the same thing.

    The only theoritically practical application would be to embed an entangled particle into a vortice and laser that bitch somewhere. But even if we could crack how to do it, theoritical limit would still just be a flat increase over light speed, it wouldn’t keep scaling exponentially.

    And even then, you’d need to turn the laser on long enough before hand that the entangled particle gets to where it’s going.

    Where/when ever the vortice runs out of “track” it will exit and start decelerating, then you’d have to account for coasting to get it anywhere near what you’re aiming at.

    It’s cool and all tho