Scientists make atoms trip the light fantastic

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2007

PARIS (AFP) — In a sub-atomic light show that has had quantum physicists shaking their heads in wonder, US scientists have made a tiny pulse of light stop, jump from one group of atoms to another and then continue on its merry way.

The experiments, conducted at Harvard University, are consistent with quantum mechanics, the laws governing the behaviour of atoms that Albert Einstein postulated in the 1920s at a time when it was technically impossible to prove him right or wrong.

But the results are still startling, say scientists, because they were so hard to demonstrate and because of their potential applications in technology.

"When I saw the study I did not at first believe it," said Michael Fleischhauer, a professor at the Technical University in...