Pseudogravity That Bends Light Just Like Real Gravity Created by Engineers in a Laboratory - The Debrief
thedebrief.org
A team of researchers working with photonic crystals say they have created pseudogravity in the lab that bends light like real gravity.

Researchers studying photonic crystals say they have successfully created a form of pseudogravity that bends light just like real gravity. The new technique could have a dramatic effect on advanced communication technologies like 6G, as well as other applications in optics and materials science that could benefit from a no-contact method of manipulating light.

  • @BloodSlut@lemmy.world
    2•9 months ago

    And “without contact”?

    I dont know, but i think light has to pass through something for refraction to actually mean anything

    • @Varyk@sh.itjust.works
      2•9 months ago

      Thank you BloodSlut, that’s a good point. It’s hard to nail down though because it’s the physical shape of crystal that’s bending the light but it is equally important to note that it does not contact…but isn’t that what refraction is?

      So even though the light is technically passing through the crystal, well, I guess that is still refraction isn’t it? It’s complex refraction because it’s being made to travel through the substrate in a particular way unlike the common way light passes through crystals.

      a facilitated, specialized refraction.

      But I guess since it bends light in the shape that light would bend around an object for to gravity they’re calling It pseudogravity, even though that’s sort of like calling a sea turtle a pseudoshark since they both move through water even though their movements are based on different properties.

      Or maybe like calling flailing your arms while drowning pseudoswimming, since the motions are similar but the reason for those motions occurring are totally different?

      Thanks for bringing up the no-contact thing.