2,887 research outputs found
Reply to the Comment on Perfect imaging with positive refraction in three dimensions
Exact time-dependent solutions of Maxwell's equations in Maxwell's fish eye
show that perfect imaging is not an artifact of a drain at the image, although
a drain is required for subwavelength resolution
Reply on the ``Comment on `Loss-error compensation in quantum- state measurements' ''
The authors of the Comment [G. M. D'Ariano and C. Macchiavello to be
published in Phys. Rev. A, quant-ph/9701009] tried to reestablish a 0.5
efficiency bound for loss compensation in optical homodyne tomography. In our
reply we demonstrate that neither does such a rigorous bound exist nor is the
bound required for ruling out the state reconstruction of an individual system
[G. M. D'Ariano and H. P. Yuen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 2832 (1996)].Comment: LaTex, 2 pages, 1 Figure; to be published in Physical Review
Transformation Optics and the Geometry of Light
Metamaterials are beginning to transform optics and microwave technology
thanks to their versatile properties that, in many cases, can be tailored
according to practical needs and desires. Although metamaterials are surely not
the answer to all engineering problems, they have inspired a series of
significant technological developments and also some imaginative research,
because they invite researchers and inventors to dream. Imagine there were no
practical limits on the electromagnetic properties of materials. What is
possible? And what is not? If there are no practical limits, what are the
fundamental limits? Such questions inspire taking a fresh look at the
foundations of optics and at connections between optics and other areas of
physics. In this article we discuss such a connection, the relationship between
optics and general relativity, or, expressed more precisely, between
geometrical ideas normally applied in general relativity and the propagation of
light, or electromagnetic waves in general, in materials. We also discuss how
this connection is applied: in invisibility devices, perfect lenses, the
optical Aharonov-Bohm effect of vortices and in analogues of the event horizon.Comment: 72 pages, 18 figures, preprint with low-resolution images.
Introduction to transformation optics, to appear in Progress in Optics
(edited by Emil Wolf
No quantum friction between uniformly moving plates
The Casimir forces between two plates moving parallel to each other are found
by calculating the vacuum electromagnetic stress tensor. The perpendicular
force between the plates is modified by the motion but there is no lateral
force on the plates. Electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations do not therefore give
rise to "quantum friction" in this case, contrary to previous assertions. The
result shows that the Casimir-Polder force on a particle moving at constant
speed parallel to a plate also has no lateral component.Comment: 17 pages. Final, published versio
Perfect imaging: they don't do it with mirrors
Imaging with a spherical mirror in empty space is compared with the case when
the mirror is filled with the medium of Maxwell's fish eye. Exact
time-dependent solutions of Maxwell's equations show that perfect imaging is
not achievable with an electrical ideal mirror on its own, but with Maxwell's
fish eye in the regime when it implements a curved geometry for full
electromagnetic waves
Fiber-optical analogue of the event horizon
The physics at the event horizon resembles the behavior of waves in moving
media. Horizons are formed where the local speed of the medium exceeds the wave
velocity. We use ultrashort pulses in microstructured optical fibers to
demonstrate the formation of an artificial event horizon in optics. We observed
a classical optical effect, the blue-shifting of light at a white-hole horizon.
We also show by theoretical calculations that such a system is capable of
probing the quantum effects of horizons, in particular Hawking radiation.Comment: MEDIA EMBARGO. This paper is subject to the media embargo of Scienc
Quantum levitation by left-handed metamaterials
Left-handed metamaterials make perfect lenses that image classical
electromagnetic fields with significantly higher resolution than the
diffraction limit. Here we consider the quantum physics of such devices. We
show that the Casimir force of two conducting plates may turn from attraction
to repulsion if a perfect lens is sandwiched between them. For optical
left-handed metamaterials this repulsive force of the quantum vacuum may
levitate ultra-thin mirrors
Optical Aharonov-Bohm effect: an inverse hyperbolic problems approach
We describe the general setting for the optical Aharonov-Bohm effect based on
the inverse problem of the identification of the coefficients of the governing
hyperbolic equation by the boundary measurements. We interpret the inverse
problem result as a possibility in principle to detect the optical
Aharonov-Bohm effect by the boundary measurements.Comment: 34 pages. Minor changes, references adde
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