Latest news with #imaginarytime
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Measured a Brain-Bending Version of Time That Shouldn't Exist
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Imaginary time is a wonky concept for our time-bound brains, but in quantum theory and mathematics, it's a useful tool for exploring radiation's interaction with materials. A new study from scientists at the University of Maryland has now captured how microwave radiation interacts with imaginary time delay. This could improve not only sensing and storage devices, but also help probe how information becomes corrupted as light travels through a material. To our temporally embedded minds, the idea of 'imaginary time' is a strange one. But in quantum field theory, this isn't imaginary, not in the sense that the tooth fairy is imaginary. Instead, 'imaginary time' is defined as a length of time that can be multiplied by the square root of -1, an imaginary number represented by the number i. Obviously, we don't encounter these numbers in the natural world, hence the term 'imaginary,' but they are particularly useful in quantum and cosmological calculations. Scientists already see 'imaginary time' as a helpful mathematical quirk, but a new study from the University of Maryland (UMD) found a way to actually measure imaginary time in a lab. The results of the study were published in the journal Physical Review Letters. When a beam of radiation—in this case microwaves—travels through a material, they can experience a time delay, which scientists in 2016 previously determined could be imaginary. Fast-forward nearly a decade later, UMD scientists Isabella Giovannelli and Steven Anlage discovered that if you send a pulse through coaxial cables that form a ring shape, close analysis of the microwave pulse using an oscilloscope as it exits the experimental setup shows that imaginary time can appear as one very small physical change, according to New Scientist. 'It's sort of like a hidden degree of freedom that people ignored,' Anlage, a co-author of the study, told New Scientist. 'I think what we've done is bring it out and give it a physical meaning.' This change occurs due to a slightly shifting frequency as the microwave passes through the material. But the imaginary time delays are incredibly small, presenting an observational challenge. Giovannelli tells New Scientist that they only had a chance at discovering this behavior because they happened to be using the very best oscilloscopes in the world. Of course, a small behavior in a pulse of radiation in a material may seem inconsequential, but for nanoscience applications, it's immensely important. Scientists have previously studied the non-imaginary components of this interaction, so the world's first observation of light experiencing imaginary time helps complete the picture. Understanding how light experiences imaginary time can improve sensing devices, along with storage platforms that rely on light. 'It's like a hammer that we've invented, and now we can find nails,' says Anlage. One of the first nails, the authors tell New Scientist, will be to look at how information-carrying pulses used in communications are corrupted as they travel through materials, and if they too are related to the imaginary time delays. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Physicists Catch Light in 'Imaginary Time' in Scientific First
For the first time, researchers have seen how light behaves during a mysterious phenomenon called 'imaginary time'. When you shine light through almost any transparent material, the gridlock of electromagnetic fields that make up the atomic alleys and side streets will add a significant amount of time to each photon's commute. This delay can tell physicists a lot about how light scatters, revealing details about the matrix of material the photons must navigate. Yet until now, one trick up the theorist's sleeve for measuring light's journey – invoking imaginary time – has not been fully understood in practical terms. An experiment conducted by University of Maryland physicists Isabella Giovannelli and Steven Anlage has now revealed precisely what pulses of microwave radiation (a type of light that exists outside the visible spectrum) do while experiencing imaginary time inside a roundabout of cables. Related: Their work also demonstrates how imaginary numbers can describe a very real and measurable process. Imaginary numbers are mathematically convenient tools for solving equations that describe physical phenomena. Handy as they are, they're as abstract as the square root of a negative number, having no practical equivalence in our everyday experience of reality. For pulses of light waves dilly-dallying through a chunk of matter, imaginary numbers have helped solve transmission time delays, but the exact behaviors responsible for their role have never been systematically examined in experiments. Technically, single photons of light can only ever move at a single, constant speed. Yet interactions with surrounding electromagnetic fields can delay a wave's overall journey in complex ways. In the context of light pulses, the actions of collections of waves can be sped up and slowed down in a similar manner. This means a pulse of light waves can be negative, technically moving faster than its individual photons. Positive and negative values – both real and imaginary – can paint a picture of the photonic traffic conditions making up a material. The experiment's apparatus consisted of a pair of coaxial cables connected in a circle, representing a simple and well-understood network of pathways for pulses of microwave light to travel through. They also made use of cutting-edge oscilloscopes that could detect incredibly small shifts in frequency. By tinkering with the pulses and measuring the effects, Giovannelli and Anlage could untangle exactly how the patterns of waves within each pulse change with respect to values predicted by real and imaginary components of their equations. "It's sort of like a hidden degree of freedom that people ignored," Anlage explained to Karmela Padavic-Callaghan at New Scientist. "I think what we've done is bring it out and give it a physical meaning." The imaginary numbers weren't describing some bizarre microwave daydream, but rather a tiny shift in the carrier wave's frequency as it passes through a material thanks to the way the transmitted pulse was absorbed. Where previously this figure was ignored as, well, imaginary, it can now be connected to the physical operations that allow pulses of light waves to move quicker than the very photons they're composed of. Just imagine. This research has been accepted for publication by Physical Review Letters. Not All Uranium Can Be Used in Weapons. Here's What 'Enrichment' Means. Scientists Caught Sperm Defying One of Newton's Laws of Physics A Cracked Piece of Metal Self-Healed in Experiment That Stunned Scientists
