In which I unpack a cryptic paper title and explain how quantum superposition lets you use light to keep things from interacting with light. ————- I joined AAAS a couple of years ago to get a break on the registration fee for their meeting, and I’ve kept up the membership mostly because I like having… Continue reading Using Light to Put a Mirror in the Dark: “Optomechanical Dark Mode”
Category: Quantum Optics
Do the New Paper Dance
OK, it’s a paper I mentioned here before, when it went up on the arxiv, but the “Comments on Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics” article I wrote this summer is up on the Physica Scripta web site now, and for the next not-quite-thirty days it’s free to read and download: Searching for new physics through… Continue reading Do the New Paper Dance
Gandalf Was Wrong: Spectroscopy and The Lord of the Rings
It’s a banner day for science explainer things I wrote, as a piece I wrote has just gone live at Tor.com: Why Gandalf Is Wrong Even as a kid, reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings at the golden age of twelve or so, Gandalf’s response to Saruman never sat well with… Continue reading Gandalf Was Wrong: Spectroscopy and The Lord of the Rings
What’s So Interesting About Single Quantum Systems? Physics Nobel 2012
In which we do a little imaginary Q&A to explain the significance of Tuesday’s Nobel Prize to Dave Wineland and Serge Haroche. ———— I did a quick post Tuesday morning noting that the latest Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to two big names from my corner of the field. This would’ve been a great… Continue reading What’s So Interesting About Single Quantum Systems? Physics Nobel 2012
Congratulations to Dave Wineland, Serge Haroche, and KSC
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics was announced this morning, going to Serge Haroche and Dave Wineland, “for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems”. This isn’t a pair that was getting much love from the prognosticators, but they’re an excellent choice. And, in fact, commenter KSC correctly picked Wineland… Continue reading Congratulations to Dave Wineland, Serge Haroche, and KSC
Entangled in the Past: “Entanglement Between Photons that have Never Coexisted”
In which we do a little ResearchBlogging to look at a new paper about weird quantum effects, entangling two photons that never both exist at the same time. ———— I’m teaching full-time this term, but I’ve blocked out Thursdays as a day when I don’t do class- or chair-related work. Usually, this means trying to… Continue reading Entangled in the Past: “Entanglement Between Photons that have Never Coexisted”
What Your Canadian Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics, Eh
Having been on hiatus for a couple of months has made me forget my obligation for self-promotion via the blog, but I should note one fast approaching public appearance: I’ll be at the University of Waterloo next weekend, where they are celebrating the opening of their shiny new Quantum and Nano Center with an Open… Continue reading What Your Canadian Dog Should Know About Quantum Physics, Eh
The Towering Interferometer: “Testing General Relativity with Atom Interferometry”
In which we look at a slightly crazy-sounding proposal from my former boss, the experimental realization of which is getting close to completion. ———— I spent more or less the entire first day of DAMOP a couple of weeks ago going to precision measurement talks. Most of these were relatively sedate (at least by the… Continue reading The Towering Interferometer: “Testing General Relativity with Atom Interferometry”
Single Photons Are Still Photons: “Wave-particle dualism and complementarity unraveled by a different mode”
In which we do a little ResearchBlogging, taking a look at a slightly confusing paper putting a new twist on the double-slit experiment. ———— I’m off to California this afternoon, spending the rest of the week at DAMOP in Pasadena (not presenting this year, just hanging out to see the coolest new stuff in Atomic,… Continue reading Single Photons Are Still Photons: “Wave-particle dualism and complementarity unraveled by a different mode”
Entangled In the Past: “Experimental delayed-choice entanglement swapping”
Enough slagging of beloved popularizers– how about some hard-core physics. The second of three extremely cool papers published last week is this Nature Physics paper from the Zeilinger group in Vienna, producers of many awesome papers about quantum mechanics. Ordinarily, this would be a hard paper to write up, becase Nature Physics are utter bastards,… Continue reading Entangled In the Past: “Experimental delayed-choice entanglement swapping”