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Topic Name: A new theory that shows light can behave like a solid.
Category: Optoelectronics
Research persons: ANDREW D. GREENTREE,,Mr Jared Cole, Dr Charles Tahan,,Dr Lloyd Hollenberg
Location: School of Physics,The University of Melbourne,Victoria, 3010, Australia
Details
Researchers from the universities of Melbourne and Cambridge have unveiled a
new theory that shows light can behave like a solid.“Solid light will help us build the technology of this century,” says
research team member, University of Melbourne physicist Dr Andrew Greentree.Dr Greentree and School of Physics colleagues Jared Cole and Professor Lloyd
Hollenberg, with Dr Charles Tahan of the University of Cambridge, made their
‘solid light’ breakthrough by studying light with tools more commonly used
to study matter.“Solid light photons repel each other as electrons do. This means we can
control photons, opening the door to new kinds of faster computers,” says Dr
Greentree.
“Many real-world problems in quantum physics are too hard to solve with
today’s computers. Our discovery shows how to replicate these hard problems in
a system we can control and measure.”
He says photons of light do not normally interact with each other. In contrast,
the electrons used by computers strongly repel each other.
The team has shown theoretically how to engineer a ‘phase transition’ in
photons, leading them to change their state so that they do interact with each
other.
Mr Cole describes a phase transition as a change in the state of something –
“such as when water becomes ice”.
“Usually, photons flow freely, but in the right circumstances, they repel each
other, and form a crystal.”
He says phase transitions are important in science and technology, but only the
simplest examples are as yet understood.
Dr Greentree says the solid light phase transition effect ties together two very
different areas of physics, optics and condensed matter “to create a whole new
way of thinking”.
“It is very exciting for the University of Melbourne and its international
collaborators to be leading the world in this new area,” he says.
The team’s work has been reported in Nature Physics and New Scientist.
About Researchers:
ANDREW
D. GREENTREE
BSc
(Hons) University of Adelaide, Australia (1994)
PhD Australian National University, Australia (2001)
| Mailing
Address |
Centre
for Quantum Computer Technology
School of Physics
The University of Melbourne
Victoria, 3010
Australia
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| Email |
andrew.greentree@ph.unimelb.edu.au |
| Telephone |
+61
3 8344 5082 |
| Facsimile |
+61
3 9347 4783 |
Mr Jared Cole
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Position:
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Research Assistant - CQCT/DMP |
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Research Group:
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Microanalytical Research Centre |
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Room Number:
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401 |
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Phone Number:
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+61 3 834 45082 |
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Email Address:
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jcole @ physics.unimelb.edu.au |
Dr
Lloyd Hollenberg
BSc(Hons), PhD (University of Melbourne)
Associate Professor, School of Physics, University of
Melbourne.
Dr Charles Tahan,
Department of Physics
Cavendish Laboratory
J J Thomson Avenue
Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK
NSF Distinguished
Research,University of Cambridge, UK
Email: mct320@cam.ac.uk
Web: http://www.tahan.com/charlie
Office Phone: +44
-01223 337340,Mobile; (+44) 07857 824078.
Funded :
Funding has come from international and national sources, including the
Australian Research Council, Australian
Government, US National Security Agency,
the US-based Advanced Research and Development Activity, US Army Research Office
and US National Science Foundation
In the images:
1. ANDREW
D. GREENTREE
2.Quantum control: A potential design for a device which
controls light. The block with the holes in it is a piece of diamond. The red
spots are the particles of light ‘stuck’ in place, rather than roaming
around freely.
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