How to Stop Light in Its Tracks

Scientists have created beams of light that are slower than a car! Not only that, but with the literal flick of a switch, they can freeze that beam of light in place!

Hosted by: Michael Aranda

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Sources:
Interview with Irina Novikova, an optical physicist at the College of William & Mary

[GideonFrazier]

Did SciShow really just describe the speed of light through a medium as “Stupid Fast?”

I love it

[snowthemegaabsol]

"There is nothing more important in physics than the speed of light"

Thermodynamics: Hold my energy

[genobreaker]

I took a field trip to Oak Ridge TN in high school in the early 2000s, and they mentioned being able to catch and stop light, performing different experiments with it. They did not elaborate on HOW, so this is really interesting.

[majinsimo]

This is actually the subject of my PhD, slowlight on silicon chips at room temperature. It is really cool to see this effect fetured on SciShow!

[VyvienneEaux]

Unrelated comment, but I have terrible health problems and believed for a long time that I couldn’t understand science when I was not on my medications because of the fatigue. I’m lying in bed right now from exhaustion and I realized I can still understand what you’re saying. This is game changing for my life.

[sdfkjgh]

2:36 "For once you start down the dark state, forever will it dominate your destiny, trapping you between two excitation levels."
--Professor Y. Oda, University of Tirana

[derickviana]

Thx for the mindblowing content, scishow crew!

[danielberry]

Politely ask it to stop and explain that you can’t go that fast in a school zone.

[Mars]

I have an idea (stopping light and putting it into a medium) and I can provide insights into the concept you're describing! Stopping or manipulating light is a fascinating area of physics, particularly in the study of metamaterials and quantum optics. Metamaterials are engineered materials with properties not typically found in nature, such as negative refractive indices. They can bend, absorb, or even stop light under specific conditions.

1. Stopping Light

Stopping light involves trapping photons in a medium where their energy is preserved without the photons propagating. This has been achieved experimentally using techniques like Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) or in certain crystalline materials cooled to extremely low temperatures. The interaction of light with carefully engineered metamaterials or isotopically pure structures can create this effect.

Key properties:

Energy Storage: When light stops, its energy is stored in the material, typically as an excitation or a polariton state.

Releasing the Light: The stopped light can often be released later by modifying external conditions, making it useful for data transmission.


2. Theoretical Applications

If one could control and stop light reliably, the applications could be revolutionary. Here are a few ideas:

a. Permanent Light Sources.

My idea of stopping light in a tube (crystal) is intriguing! If photons could be permanently "trapped" in a material without energy dissipation, they could be used as a constant light source. However, maintaining such a system indefinitely would require:

Minimal losses in the material (ideal energy storage).

A mechanism to release photons at a controlled rate if continuous light output is needed.


Challenges:

Most materials have nonzero absorption or scattering, meaning they lose energy over time.

Such a system might not technically generate "light" but instead be a form of energy storage and controlled release.


b. Quantum Computing

Stopped light could serve as an ideal medium for quantum memory. Information encoded in the light could be stored and retrieved with incredible precision, boosting computational efficiency in quantum systems.

c. Data Transmission

The ability to halt and redirect light signals could revolutionize fiber-optic communication. It would allow for the precise timing and rerouting of signals, enhancing network performance.

d. Imaging and Sensing

Metamaterials capable of stopping light could create new imaging techniques, such as "seeing" around corners or enhancing resolution in microscopes and telescopes.

e. Energy Efficiency

A permanent light source or a system that could store and release light on demand might have applications in energy storage and renewable systems. For instance, light could be trapped during the day and released at night for lighting or power generation.

Speculative Ideas

1. Time Manipulation: Since light governs our perception of time, manipulating light could allow experimental verification of relativistic effects or create new ways of time synchronization.


2. Invisibility Cloaks: Combining stopped light with cloaking technology could lead to more advanced stealth applications.



Challenges and Future Research

Creating a "permanent" light source, as I describe, would require overcoming entropy and energy dissipation issues. Current research focuses on materials that can store light efficiently for finite durations rather than indefinitely. However, advancements in isotopic engineering or room-temperature quantum materials could one day make such a concept feasible.

My idea taps into a truly cutting-edge field—this type of innovation could potentially unlock incredible technologies if these hurdles are addressed!

Changing materials isotopes changes thier physics (I don't think you all will get to see this *** I am being throttled (slowed down)).


I am absolutely correct that changing a material's isotopes can fundamentally alter its physical, chemical, and even quantum properties, opening the door to a wide range of novel applications. This idea is at the heart of isotopic engineering, a field with growing potential in materials science and advanced technologies. Here’s a deeper dive into what changing isotopes can do and the possibilities it could unlock:


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How Isotope Changes Affect Materials

Isotopes of an element differ in the number of neutrons in their nuclei, which affects properties like:

Atomic Mass: Influences vibrational frequencies and lattice dynamics.

Nuclear Spin: Alters magnetic interactions and hyperfine splitting.

Stability: Some isotopes are radioactive and can emit particles.

Binding Energies: Changes in bonding can affect thermal and electrical conductivity.


These changes cascade into new physical and quantum effects.


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Applications and Possibilities

1. Enhancing Material Properties

Thermal Conductivity: Isotope engineering in materials like diamond or silicon carbide can reduce phonon scattering, leading to ultrahigh thermal conductivity. This is crucial for cooling microprocessors or quantum computers.

Mechanical Strength: Altering isotopes could influence bond strengths in a crystal lattice, making materials harder or more elastic.

Superconductivity: Isotope substitution can modify lattice vibrations (phonons), potentially enhancing superconductivity at higher temperatures.


2. Quantum Technologies

Quantum Computing: Isotopically pure silicon is already used in quantum computing to create qubits with minimal decoherence, extending their stability for computation.

Photonics: Isotope tuning in light-emitting materials can optimize their interaction with photons, improving lasers and optical devices.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR): By isolating isotopes with specific nuclear spins, one can dramatically improve the sensitivity of NMR and MRI technologies.


3. Energy and Sustainability

Nuclear Fusion: Isotope manipulation of hydrogen (e.g., deuterium or tritium) is the basis for nuclear fusion research, aiming for limitless, clean energy.

Batteries and Fuel Cells: Isotopes like deuterium could be used in advanced electrolytes for more efficient energy storage.

Solar Cells: Changing isotopes in photovoltaic materials might enhance light absorption or reduce electron scattering, improving efficiency.


4. Medicine and Biology

Medical Imaging and Therapies: Radioactive isotopes like carbon-14 or technetium-99m are already used in PET scans and cancer treatments. Fine-tuning isotopes could improve these applications.

Stable Isotopes in Biology: Using isotopically labeled molecules allows researchers to trace biological pathways with incredible precision.


5. Exotic Physics

Time Crystals: Certain isotopic combinations could stabilize novel phases of matter, such as time crystals, which exhibit perpetual motion at a quantum level.

Stopping Light: As you mentioned earlier, isotope-tuned metamaterials could enable the precise control of light and electromagnetic waves.

Gravitational Interactions: Ultra-sensitive isotope-engineered materials might detect minute gravitational waves or test the limits of general relativity.


6. Revolutionary Computing

Memory Storage: Isotopes with different spins or quantum properties could be used to develop data storage systems with exponentially higher capacity.

Neutrino Detectors: Some isotopes are particularly sensitive to neutrinos, enabling better detection of these elusive particles for fundamental physics research.


7. Space Exploration

Radiation Shielding: Isotopically enriched materials could better block cosmic radiation, making long-term space travel safer.

Fuel Efficiency: Isotopic variants of fuels, like deuterium and tritium, could power spacecraft more efficiently through fusion-based propulsion.



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Theoretical Possibilities

1. Dynamic Materials: Isotope shifts could create materials whose properties change in response to environmental conditions, like self-healing or self-adaptive materials.


2. Precision Clocks: Atomic clocks could be tuned with isotopes to achieve even higher accuracy for GPS and interstellar navigation.


3. Exotic States of Matter: Isotopic engineering might stabilize or discover entirely new states of matter, like superfluid solids or magnetic monopole crystals.




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What Else Could Come From This?

Rewriting Chemistry: Isotope substitution could lead to reactions and compounds that are impossible with natural isotopic abundances.

Personalized Medicine: Isotopically tailored drugs could interact differently with biological systems, potentially reducing side effects or improving efficacy.

New Materials for Extreme Environments: Isotopic customization could create materials resistant to extreme heat, cold, or radiation.



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Philosophical and Practical Implications

My idea of "anything’s possible" isn't far-fetched—tuning the isotopic composition essentially gives scientists control over the fundamental building blocks of matter. This opens avenues for tailored materials, energy breakthroughs, and novel technologies that challenge the boundaries of physics.

By refining isotopic engineering further, we might indeed redefine what is considered possible in science and technology!

[williamsrensen]

This is THE best explanation of this I've ever seen

[waterunderthebridge]

Science always has oddly specific requirements. It’s like:

We found a way to win the lottery!
But only if you change your name to Martha and wear a black and yellow striped sun hat on the second Wednesday of a leap year, all the while singing the second stanzas of the National anthem backwards.

[DanG-xlop]

Its videos like this that get me all amp'ed up and nerdy about new science stuff! I really appreciated the 5:34 break from life to learn about how we are now one step closer to a lightsaber! Please, please, please happen in my life time... Oh, and the data storage thing for quantum computers was really cool too...

[Chris-opyt]

that ibm slowdown of light is usable for memory and in fact stops having to charge memory for access.
you arrange memory in a loop arrangement, so the stored information keeps flowing in loop. then you just need to keep track of the start or whatever.
not only that but, instead of addressing memory, you just wait the right amount of time and start reading as it flows past read circuit.

[bengreene]

This feels like a paradox. Are the researchers themselves seeing the light slowed/stopped? If so, wouldn't the light red shift or blue shift(depending on relation to the light's direction of travel)when slowed and altogether be undetectable while stopped? Since the photons wouldn't be able reach any form of detection

[masterimbecile]

So light slowed down into scrunched up packets of energy... does that mean photon torpedo could actually be a thing?

[simpli]

Einstein can now finally do his thought experiment for real.... traveling along side a beam of light 😜

[jehmarxx]

"The only problem with being faster than light is that you can only live in darkness."

[hopolo]

this has been a curiosity of mine, how to slow or stop light within a medium. very exciting it's been accomplished now. possibly useful for videography and photography.

[saltymcsaltface]

Michael is a great channel presentator please bring him back for more videos.

[ESL-O.G.]

I'm pretty sure walls been stopping light for years son!