Home > News > Physicist Discovers How To Make Quantum Foam In A Test Tube
January 27th, 2011
Physicist Discovers How To Make Quantum Foam In A Test Tube
Abstract:
Nobody is quite sure what laws of physics govern spacetime on the smallest scale, that's over the Planck length of about 10^-35 metres. However, our best guess is that quantum mechanics must somehow prevail. And if that's the case then Heisenberg's uncertainty principle must play an important role.
This principle implies that to discover anything about a region of space on that scale, we would have to use energies so high that they would create a black hole. (That's why it doesn't make sense to think of anything smaller.)
Now, because these black holes can exist, quantum mechanics suggests that they do exist, constantly leaping in and out of existence at the Planck scale.
These "virtual black holes" give spacetime a certain strange structure at the Planck scale. For want of a better word, physicists call it quantum foam.
So what's this got to do with metamaterials? Smolyaninov points out that metamaterials are only transparent for photons of a specific wavelength when their dielectric permittivity is engineered to be below some critical value.
Should it rise above this value, the material would suddenly become opaque.
So his idea is to create a metamaterial in which the dielectric permittivity is just blow this critical value. Then any thermal fluctuations inside the material ought to raise the permittivity, making the material opaque in that region.
Source:
technologyreview.com
Bookmark:
| Related News Press |
News and information
FSU researchers develop new methods to generate and improve magnetism of 2D materials December 13th, 2024
Innovative biomimetic superhydrophobic coating combines repair and buffering properties for superior anti-erosion December 13th, 2024
Groundbreaking research unveils unified theory for optical singularities in photonic microstructures December 13th, 2024
Possible Futures
Breakthrough brings body-heat powered wearable devices closer to reality December 13th, 2024
FSU researchers develop new methods to generate and improve magnetism of 2D materials December 13th, 2024
Innovative biomimetic superhydrophobic coating combines repair and buffering properties for superior anti-erosion December 13th, 2024
Groundbreaking research unveils unified theory for optical singularities in photonic microstructures December 13th, 2024
Academic/Education
Rice University launches Rice Synthetic Biology Institute to improve lives January 12th, 2024
Multi-institution, $4.6 million NSF grant to fund nanotechnology training September 9th, 2022
Discoveries
How cells repair DNA’s protective barrier: a pathway to address a rare genetic disorder characterized by rapid aging in children December 13th, 2024
Bringing the power of tabletop precision lasers for quantum science to the chip scale December 13th, 2024
Researchers succeed in controlling quantum states in a new energy range December 13th, 2024
Breakthrough brings body-heat powered wearable devices closer to reality December 13th, 2024
Announcements
FSU researchers develop new methods to generate and improve magnetism of 2D materials December 13th, 2024
Innovative biomimetic superhydrophobic coating combines repair and buffering properties for superior anti-erosion December 13th, 2024
Groundbreaking research unveils unified theory for optical singularities in photonic microstructures December 13th, 2024
Quantum nanoscience
Researchers succeed in controlling quantum states in a new energy range December 13th, 2024
Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024
Researchers observe “locked” electron pairs in a superconductor cuprate August 16th, 2024
 |
||
 |
||
| The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
| Premium Products | ||
 |
||
|
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
|
|
||