This is a purely theoretical exercise, from what I could understand:
[They] considered what would happen if a single photon passed through an optical shutter—essentially a very fast mirror that can be switched on and off to block part of a pulse of light. If the shutter was fast enough, it could intercept the photon mid-pulse, snipping off part of this extended wave.
They then did a bunch of calculations to simulate what would happen, but I'm wondering if such a shutter wouldn't have to travel at the speed of light to catch the photon, and if this doesn't make the experiment meaningless...
If you flipped a mirror back and forth fast enough to “split a photon” you’d end up generating a bunch of photons due to the heat energy generated by the system anyway. I’m sure that’s not what they’re talking about but just imagine something oscillating that quickly.
8 Comments
Assassassin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 23 pts · 91d
That's gotta be a really sharp knife
neopenguin@lemmy.world · 39 pts · 91d
Kenny2999@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 91d
and really light
LodeMike@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 91d
No, thats the photon. The knife would have to be more solid
ByteJunk@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 91d
This is a purely theoretical exercise, from what I could understand:
They then did a bunch of calculations to simulate what would happen, but I'm wondering if such a shutter wouldn't have to travel at the speed of light to catch the photon, and if this doesn't make the experiment meaningless...
ChicoSuave@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 91d
Sound like they are implying that photons can be collided and it creates a whole new set of particles.
rebelsimile@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 91d
If you flipped a mirror back and forth fast enough to “split a photon” you’d end up generating a bunch of photons due to the heat energy generated by the system anyway. I’m sure that’s not what they’re talking about but just imagine something oscillating that quickly.
IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 91d
Is energy conserved in this scenario?