[Mind's Eye] Re: plucking light from 'nothing'

Imagine trying to shave in one of these mirrors!

On Dec 2, 3:33 pm, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> and maybe remember these mirrors are moving at quarter light-speed!
> and that, in principle, we could gang together and do this one - the
> concrete alone at CERN would be beyond our 'collective backs'.
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> On Dec 2, 2:07 pm, Pat <PatrickDHarring...@hotmail.com> wrote:
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> > On Dec 1, 7:25 am, Allan H <allanh1...@gmail.com> wrote:
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> > > I personally think CERN project is amazing,,  and I appreciate the tidbit
> > > of explanation as it really does allow me to visualize that is happening..
> > >  I would never have thought of using a magnetic field as a mirror.
>
> > > the whole project is amazing thank you
> > > Allan
>
> > Funny, a deck of Tarot cards is simply a deck of mirrors when used
> > properly.  Remember, the universe is holographic and mirrors abound
> > throughout it.
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> > > On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 1:39 AM, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > I tend to like science that doesn't require building vast entities
> > > > like the LHC at CERN.  Stuff I could do on the kitchen table is more
> > > > my scene and hopefully simple enough to show my grandson, at least in
> > > > principle.
> > > > Wilson, C., Johansson, G., Pourkabirian, A., Simoen, M., Johansson,
> > > > J., Duty, T., Nori, F., & Delsing, P. (2011). Observation of the
> > > > dynamical Casimir effect in a superconducting circuit Nature, 479
> > > > (7373), 376-379 DOI: 10.1038/nature10561
> > > > is an example - though I actually can't do this one.
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> > > > I went through undergraduate chemistry "knowing" about virtual
> > > > particles, though I mistakenly thought they were accounting devices
> > > > rather than real.  I "knew" too that vacuums were full of such stuff.
> > > > The thought experiments all seemed undoable.  Here's a description of
> > > > the plucking light from vacuum job.
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> > > > "In addition, there is also the dynamic Casimir effect. This occurs if
> > > > the mirrors are moving very fast so that the electromagnetic field in-
> > > > between has no time to adjust. Instead, the ripples in the field
> > > > caused by the fast mirror movement lead to the emission of a light
> > > > particle. Basically, the mirrors create light out of the
> > > > electromagnetic field in a similar way that a guitar player generates
> > > > sounds from plucking a string. The problem with the experimental
> > > > realization of the dynamic Casimir effect is that the mirrors need to
> > > > move seriously fast. Otherwise the system has time to adjust to the
> > > > new geometry of the mirrors, and no light will be excited. We are
> > > > talking about speeds close to the speed of light!
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> > > > Such fast mirror movements are simply not possible with mechanical
> > > > mirrors. What is needed is an analogue that changes the dimension of
> > > > the vacuum by other means. Fortunately, such systems exist in
> > > > superconducting circuits, where magnetic fields applied to a so-called
> > > > SQUID circuit on a chip achieve the same moving mirror function for
> > > > electromagnetic fields. Moreover, fast-changing magnetic fields are no
> > > > problem to create. In the present experiment the mirrors 'move' at a
> > > > quarter of the speed of light, which corresponds to a driving
> > > > frequency for the magnetic field of more than 10 gigahertz. The
> > > > dynamic Casimir is clearly observed, with light being generated at the
> > > > expected frequencies.
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> > > > This is certainly a beautiful study confirming the intriguing
> > > > properties of quantum mechanics. And what's more, it doesn't need
> > > > Hawking's black holes to experiment with them, all that's needed is a
> > > > table-top setup of superconducting circuits. This ease of
> > > > experimentation will make sure we will learn much more about these
> > > > virtual fluctuations in vacuum from future experiments."
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> > > > As a kid I used to hear that money could not be produced from thin air
> > > > and such - these days it seems more and more of what was nothing
> > > > actually is something.
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> > > --
> > >  (
> > >   )
> > > |_D Allan
>
> > > Life is for moral, ethical and truthful living.- Hide quoted text -
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> > > - Show quoted text -