![]() ![]() The reason is embedded in quantum entangled states, a topic that appears to have little in common with optical distortions. This vectorial homogeneity never changes, even if the pattern of the electric field itself changes. In other words, it is a measure of how similar the directions of the electric fields of a light are at different places: if it is the same everywhere (homogenous) the value is 0, and if it is everywhere different (inhomogeneous) the value is 1. A light’s ‘vectorness’ is how mixed up the direction of the electric field of a light is. Light has an electric whose direction can vary across the field, sometimes points upwards, downwards, left, right, and so on. The question is how to understand what happens to the light, how it is distorted, and how to find the new perspective? To answer these questions the team used the most general form of light possible, vectorial light. In this case we all understand that the distortion is just a matter of perspective – a quick glance at ourselves without the mirror reveals the reality – but is this also true in other distorting systems? Is there a way to look at the light so that the distortion disappears? The Wits led team show that yes, some properties are never distorted, while others can be unraveled by a change of perspective. Light can also sometimes be deliberately distorted, like the mirrors at a fun fair that make you look taller, thinner or rounder. For instance, the shimmering mirage effect near hot roads or the twinkling of stars are both examples of light that becomes distorted, because of the atmosphere’s turbulence. If you pass light through an imperfect medium, such as the atmosphere, it gets distorted. ![]() It holds the key exploiting light even under non-ideal conditions. This is always true and had not been noticed before. Secondly, they show that despite the distortion, there is a property of the light – its “vectorness” – that remains unchanged, invariant to the media. Previously each choice of media and light beam were treated as a special case, not so any longer – the new general theory covers it all. Firstly, they find that all such media can be treated in the same way, and that the analysis does not depend on the type of light used. In their paper titled: Revealing the invariance of vectorial structured light in complex media, the team explain the simple rules that govern complex light propagation in complex media. Nature Photonics today published online the research by the Wits team led by Professor Andrew Forbes from the School of Physics at Wits University. To validate the finding, the team showed robust transport through otherwise highly distorting systems, using the outcome for error-free communication through noisy channels. Importantly, the work outlines that all light has a property that remains unchanged, an insight that holds the key to unravelling the rest of the perceived distortion. Their novel quantum approach to the problem resolves a standing debate on whether some forms of light are robust or not, correcting some misconceptions in the community. They demonstrated that “distortion” is a matter of perspective, outlining a simple rule that applies to all light and a vast array of media, including underwater, optical fibre, transmission in the atmosphere and even through living biological samples. view moreĪ team led by researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, with collaborators from the University of Pretoria (South Africa), as well as Mexico and Scotland, have made a new discovery on how light behaves in complex media, media that tends to distort light significantly. The complex media shown in the insets includes living tissue, under-water, optical fibre and transmission through the atmosphere. The pattern of the light depicts the polarisation state. Image: An artistic impression of complex vectorial light passing through some distorting complex media and becoming altered in some way.
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