Speed of Light: Till now it has been believed that nothing can move faster than the speed of light in the universe. But if we understand Albert Einstein’s theory deeply, this is not completely true. He had said that no information can travel faster than the speed of light. That is, if something is without mass and without information, then it can cross this limit and in this context a new discussion has started about darkness.
What are dark points?
Scientists did not try to measure darkness directly, rather they looked at special points present within the light, which are called dark points. These are such places where the intensity of light wave becomes zero i.e. there is complete darkness there. These are also called null points and they are like small empty areas formed between lights.
How did this speed become faster than light?
A special type of structure is formed from these dark points which is called vortex. You can understand it like a whirlpool formed in a river which rotates faster than the flow of water. Similarly, these dark vortexes can technically move faster than the speed of light. This type of motion is called superluminal. This research has been published in the prestigious journal Nature.
How was this experiment done?
Proving this discovery was not easy. For this, scientists used very advanced microscopy and laser technology. They used a special material, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), in which the speed of light slows down and changes into a state called polariton. It is a kind of hybrid particle which has properties of both light and matter. Only in this state could the dark points be seen moving faster than the light.
What can this discovery change?
The leading scientists of this research believe that this discovery is not limited to light only but it can also help in understanding many other systems of nature like sound waves, liquid flow and superconductors. This new technology can open the way to understanding the hidden and fast processes of physics, chemistry and biology in the future.
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