The Light Comes Slowly

Slow Light is a popular treatment of today''s astonishing breakthroughs in the science of light. Even though we don''t understand light''s quantum mysteries, we can slow it to a stop and speed it up beyond its Einsteinian speed limit, 186,000 miles/sec; use it for quantum telecommunications; teleport it; manipulate it to create invisibility; and perhaps generate hydrogen fusion power with it. All this is lucidly presented for non-scientists who wonder about teleportation, Harry Potter invisibility cloaks, and other fantastic outcomes. Slow Light shows how the real science and the fantasy inspire each other, and projects light''s incredible future. Emory physicist Sidney Perkowitz discusses how we are harnessing the mysteries of light into technologies like lasers and fiber optics that are transforming our daily lives. Science-fiction fantasies like Harry Potter''s invisibility cloak are turning into real possibilities.

One of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library Services The exotic effects of slow light have been widely observed in the laboratory. However, current literature fails to explore the wider field of slow light in photonic structures and optical fibers. Reflecting recent research, Slow Light: Science and Applications presents a comprehensive introduction to slow light and its potential applications, including storage, switching, DOD applications, and nonlinear optics. The book covers fundamentals of slow light in various media, including atomic media, semiconductors, fibers, and photonic structures. Leading authorities in such diverse fields as atomic vapor spectroscopy, fiber amplifiers, and integrated optics provide an interdisciplinary perspective. They uncover potential applications in both linear and nonlinear optics. While it is impossible to account for all the captivating developments that have occurred in the last few years, this book provides an exceptional survey of the current state of the slow light field.

The propagation of light in dispersive media is a subject of fundamental as well as practical importance. In recent years attention has focused in particular on how refractive index can vary with frequency in such a way that the group velocities of optical pulses can be much greater or much smaller than the speed of light in vacuum, or in which the refractive index can be negative. Treating these topics at an introductory to intermediate level, Fast Light, Slow Light and Left-Handed Light focuses on the basic theory and describes the significant experimental progress made during the past decade. The book pays considerable attention to the fact that superluminal group velocities are not in conflict with special relativity and to the role of quantum effects in preventing superluminal communication and violations of Einstein causality. It also explores some of the basic physics at the opposite extreme of very slow group velocities as well as stopped and regenerated light, including the concepts of electromagnetically induced transparency and dark-state polaritons. Another very active aspect of the subject discussed concerns the possibility of designing metamaterials in which the refractive index can be negative and propagating light is left-handed in the sense that the phase and group velocities are in opposite directions. The last two chapters are an introduction to some of the basic theory and consequences of negative refractive index, with emphasis on the seminal work carried out since 2000. The possibility that "perfect" lenses can be made from negative-index metamaterials-which has been perhaps the most controversial aspect of the field-is introduced and discussed in some detail.

Slow Light is a popular treatment of today's astonishing breakthroughs in the science of light. Even though we don't understand light's quantum mysteries, we can slow it to a stop and speed it up beyond its Einsteinian speed limit, 186,000 miles/sec; use it for quantum telecommunications; teleport it; manipulate it to create invisibility; and perhaps generate hydrogen fusion power with it. All this is lucidly presented for non-scientists who wonder about teleportation, Harry Potter invisibility cloaks, and other fantastic outcomes. Slow Light shows how the real science and the fantasy inspire each other, and projects light's incredible future. Emory physicist Sidney Perkowitz discusses how we are harnessing the mysteries of light into technologies like lasers and fiber optics that are transforming our daily lives. Science-fiction fantasies like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak are turning into real possibilities. Please click here for more info. Contents: What is Light? The Mystery ContinuesWhy is Light so Fast?Can Anything Go Even Faster?Slow, Stopped, Fast, and Backwards LightExtreme and Entangled LightInvisibilityLight Fantasy to Light Reality Readership: For physics enthusiasts all over the world. Keywords:Light;Invisibility;Teleportation;Entanglement;Slow Light;Fast Light;Backwards Light;Laser;Laser Fusion;Quantum;Quantum Computing;Quantum Cryptography;Relativity;Faster Than Light Travel;Science Fiction;Star Trek;Cloaking Device;Invisible ManKey Features:Slow Light is unique in bringing together different aspects of contemporary light science and technology, and presenting them at a popular level. No other title covers all these areas. Slow light and invisibility in particular have not been presented at length in popular booksThe book will appeal to both science fans and science fiction fans, for it weaves real science together with fictional science. It presents both ongoing research and classic and modern science fiction, from H G Wells' “The Invisible Man” through “Star Trek” to contemporary films and television seriesThe author brings expertise in light gained from his own laboratory research, and is also known as a skilled and clear expositor of science for non-scientists. His earlier “Empire of Light”, about science and art, gained critical acclaim and has been translated into several languages. His “Digital People” and “Hollywood Science” have also established him as a lecturer and media figure who explores the relations between science and science fictionReviews:“This excellent little book tells of the truly marvelous properties of light that have been revealed in the last half century or so. Highly recommended.”Choice “With an elegant and clear style, Perkowitz takes the reader through the reality of these remarkable phenomena, including the strange quantum effects related to entanglement. Here is an author who is keen to show that what we know is already amazing, without having to pour over the purely hypothetical.”CERN Courier