In doing so, they opened a new field of research - spinoptics and found a new way to control light by spinning it
The Technion researchers were the first to observe the Magnus effect in light, thus opening a new way to control light on a nanometer scale with the help of "spinning" the light. The new experimental discovery provides a good way for a basic physical understanding of the trajectory of rotating particles moving in an inhomogeneous medium, which until now could only be observed in complicated systems of condensed matter. The research is published in the scientific journal Nature Photonics and was carried out by Professor Erez Hasman, Dr. Konstantin Bliauch, Dr. Vladimir Kleiner and Avi Niv from the Laboratory for Micro and Nano-Optics, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Russell Berry Institute for Research in Nanotechnology.
The creation of a lateral force on a rotating cylindrical or spherical solid immersed in a liquid (or gas) when there is a relative movement between the rotating body and the liquid is called the Magnus effect. German physicist Heinrich Magnus first described the effect in 1853. In many ball games, the Magnus effect is responsible for the trajectory of a spinning ball (for example, a soccer, tennis or ping pong player who "spins" the ball). The Magnus effect also affects the trajectory of rotating missiles, and affects the flight of certain aircraft.
Electromagnetic waves, which also behave as massless particles called photons, have an internal property - "spin" of the photons. The spin, which is the internal angular momentum of the photons, depends on the direction of the circular polarization of the light. The Technion researchers report in their article on a unified theory on the subject and for the first time on a direct experimental observation of a spin-dependent deviation - the Magnus effect in photons. The Magnus effect for light (also called the spin Hall effect), causes light to deviate due to the interaction between the spin of the photons and the shape of its trajectory. The possible implications of their work are very broad. "The application of this effect with photonic and nano-optical means may lead to the development of a new field of research - spin optics", says Prof. Hasman. "We hope that we will be able to control light on a nanometer scale, in ways that have not been possible until now."
The researchers believe that in the future their work will provide results that will also benefit other fields of physics. According to Prof. Hasman, "There are many physical systems in which the spin of the particles affects the trajectory of movement, such as in the physics of high energies and condensed matter. The effect is similar in most cases, but very difficult to investigate experimentally. Our experimental approach makes it possible to deal with these basic questions with clarity and precision."
Comments
Saharir
Michael R. - Thank you !
Isaiah:
Your questions are indeed interesting and it seems to me that to get a serious answer you will have to contact someone whose profession is quantum theory.
What I can say is that the question "is it a wave or a particle?" determined by the experiment being carried out.
An experiment designed to discover particles will discover particles. An experiment designed to discover waves will discover waves.
When combining the two types of experiments (such as by placing particle detectors in or near the mice) the degree of interference obtained depends on the degree of "missing" of the detectors. The more reliable the detectors are, the less interference there is. The more particles that can escape detection - the more interference there is.
Regarding the loss of spin - this is something that never happens:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(physics) a
By the way, I really don't want to be a joy breaker, but I think soThe Physics Department of the University of Illinois, were a few months ahead of the guys from the Technion (Of course, I'd love to know that I'm wrong and it's not really important to the point of the matter either):
And more dumb and ignorant questions - 1. Will photons in a spin that are transferred to the detector through slits create an interference effect or not?
2. Will a theoretical practical product of what is described in the article be a light in an arced path capable of "going around corners" without the use of reflection? 3. Will "dizzy" light that is reflected, from a mirror for example, preserve the swirl? 4. Will he transfer some of it to the surface that will hit him (as dizzy billiard balls do)? 5. In the absence of mass, will the photon gradually lose its spin or, theoretically, can it persist if not affected by an external factor? Well, too many questions, I guess. It's just very intriguing.
A stupid question - doesn't this finding constitute a distinctly "particle" behavior of the photon? I mean, as far as I know, this is not a typical wave phenomenon, or am I wrong?!
A. Ben-Ner:
In my opinion, the authors of the article were aware of the difference and used the name only as a metaphor and not to claim that the same mechanism is at work here.
Anyway, your words are, of course, correct.
To Judah
I think that by definition, every medium, except empty, is
inhomogeneous It all depends on the scale of observation.
However, absolute emptiness does not exist in the physical universe.
In my opinion, the comparison to the classic Magnus effect is not trivial.
As far as I know, the explanation for the classic Magnus effect is that the spin creates a relative movement of the surface of the rotating object in relation to the medium (gas, liquid). In addition, there is a linear (linear) movement of the bone in relation to the medium.
The direction of the rotation is in the direction of the linear movement, on one side of the body and in the opposite direction, on the opposite side. This asymmetric situation is created, according to (Bernoulli's equation)=
(Equation of conservation of energy in liquids and gases),
A situation where the hydrodynamic pressures, on both sides of the rotating body, are not equal. On the side where the movement trends (linear and linear) are equal, the pressure is greater than on the opposite side, where the movement trends are opposite.
This pressure difference creates a force acting on the body.
Because of this, its direction is perpendicular to the direction of the linear movement and therefore a deviation from the linear movement path is caused and the body moves in a "circular" path. In contrast, a similar mechanism
does not operate in the photon movement. Therefore, it seems that there should be a different explanation for the physical mechanism that causes the change in the linear motion of the photon under the influence of spin.
For those who didn't understand. The simple example of the Magnus effect is rifle bullets
which are swirling because of the coils of the barrel and their swirling causes a permanent deflection
from the expected course; It turns out that the same thing happens to photons, which spin them
The "spin" affects the direction of their trajectory.
If it is possible to control this deviation, then this discovery may have uses
Many, perhaps like burning and developing ultra-small printed circuits, or
In the treatment of nanometer components using a light beam, or the creation of computers and components
Memory, based on optical and non-electrical components.
Will the discovery advance the development of quantum computers?
And, if I'm not mistaken, a link to the summary of the current article -
More Michaels have recently been added to the audience commenting here.
This is, of course, their right to be called by the same name (although I would check if there are already other commenters with that name before I would start using it as a nickname).
To avoid confusion I decided to change the way my responses are identified.
The long nickname (including the parentheses) is intended to maintain a connection to my past responses.
I think this is an earlier article, from 2004, on the same topic:
Can you add a link to the original article?
Badly written
a quote
"The new experimental discovery provides a good way to a fundamental physical understanding of the trajectory of rotating particles moving in an inhomogeneous medium," end quote.
As far as I understand, the Magnus effect does not require an inhomogeneous medium.
The quote requires an explanation.
Good night
Sabdarmish Yehuda
The article is unclear. It is not clear what they were looking for and what exactly they discovered.
For what purposes exactly is it useful?
I would appreciate the answers.