Photons, for centuries both a puzzle and a tool, continue to help scientists illuminate nature at the smallest and largest ...

Atoms inside of an optical cavity exchange their momentum states by "playing catch" with photons. As the atoms absorb photons from an applied laser, the whole cloud of atoms recoil rather than the ...

When two or more light waves interact with one another, they result in the formation of different interference patterns. British physicist Thomas Young first demonstrated and explained these patterns ...

A new paper suggests that we could search for photons created by gravitational waves. A specific physical response turns gravitons from these waves into photons of electromagnetism. Scientists believe ...

Thomas Young, born 250 years ago this week, was a polymath who made seminal contributions in fields from physics to Egyptology. But perhaps his most enduring legacy is proving Isaac Newton wrong about ...

The phenomenon of light slowing down as it passes through a material like glass or air is one of the most fascinating areas of physics, involving a complex interaction between light and materials.

Photons are particles of light, or waves, or something like that, right? [Mithuna Yoganathan] explains this conundrum in more detail than you probably got in your high school physics class. While ...

Do dead stars glow? A strange gravitational phenomenon could be generating enormous amounts of light around neutron stars, new research suggests. When you purchase through links on our site, we may ...

Researchers at Intel have developed a method of generating a continuous laser with a silicon device, one of the first steps toward introducing optical interconnects in future processors, servers and ...

Slowing down light is not as easy as it sounds. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The phenomenon of light slowing down as it passes ...