|
Wake Forest Physics…
Nationally recognized for teaching excellence;
internationally respected for research advances;
a focused emphasis on interdisciplinary study and close student-faculty collaboration.
|
WFU Physics Colloquium
TITLE:
Slow Light, Fast Light, Backward Light, and Stopped Light: What does it
all mean?
SPEAKER:
Professor Daniel J. Gauthier,
Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Physics
and Biomedical Engineering,
Duke University
TIME: Thursday Sept. 27, 2007 at 4:00 PM
PLACE: George P. Williams, Jr. Lecture Hall, (Olin 101)
Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM in the lounge.
All interested persons are cordially invited to attend.
ABSTRACT
Over the past few years, scientists have learned how to tailor the
dispersion of
optical materials to create very unusual states of light. It is now
possible to slow down a pulse of light to bicycle speed, stop it, make it
go backwards, and make it apparently go faster than the speed of light in
vacuum. I will review the physics behind these behaviors, discuss why
the behaviors do not violate the special theory of relativity, and mention
a few possible applications.
Some references:
- D.J. Gauthier and R.W. Boyd, `Fast light, slow light, and optical precursors ...
What does it all mean?,' an invited article in Photonics Spectra, pp. 82-90,
January (2007)
- R.W. Boyd, D.J. Gauthier, and A.L. Gaeta, `Applications of slow light in
telecommunications,' an invited article in Optics and Photonics News 7,
18 (2006).
-
D.J. Gauthier, A.L Gaeta, and R.W. Boyd, `Slow Light: From basics to future
prospects,' an invited article in Photonics Spectra, pp. 44-50, March
(2006).
|
