Physicists have developed a novel theory describing a new state of light, which has controllable quantum properties over a broad range of frequencies, up as high as X-ray frequencies.
The world we observe around us can be described according to the laws of classical physics, but once we observe things at an atomic scale, the strange world of quantum physics takes over.
Imagine a basketball: observing it with the naked eye, the basketball behaves according to the laws of classical physics. But the atoms that make up the basketball behave according to quantum physics instead.
“Light is no exception: from sunlight to radio waves, it can mostly be described using classical physics,” said Dr. Andrea Pizzi, a physicist in the Department of Physics at Harvard University and the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.
“But at the micro and nanoscale so-called quantum fluctuations start playing a role and classical physics cannot account for them.”
In their research, Dr. Pizzi and colleagues aimed to develop a theory that predicts a new way of controlling the quantum nature of light.
“Quantum fluctuations make quantum light harder to study, but also more interesting: if correctly engineered, quantum fluctuations can be a resource,” Dr. Pizzi said.
“Controlling the state of quantum light could enable new techniques in microscopy and quantum computation.”
One of the main techniques for generating light uses strong lasers.
When a strong enough laser is pointed at a collection…
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