University News
Harvard-Smithsonian Scientist To Lecture On Stopped Light October 23
October 16, 2006
MACOMB, IL - - Ronald Walsworth, a senior lecturer of physics at Harvard University and a senior scientist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, will present “The Story of Stopped Light” at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23 in the College of Fine Arts and Communication Recital Hall.
The scientist, who leads the Walsworth Group research team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has shown in current investigations that a pulse of light can be brought to a stop in a specially prepared cloud of atoms and then re-accelerated and released on command. The lecture will address how stopped light is a new manifestation of the rules of quantum mechanics, with potential applications to ultra-secure quantum communication.
“This is an amazing advance in our ability to control and manipulate light and it has far-reaching implications in using light for new computer technologies,” said James Rabchuk, Western Illinois associate physics professor. “The lecture is a great opportunity for WIU students and the area community to hear and see this remarkable achievement.”
WalsworthÂ’s research has been featured in the New York Times, National Public Radio, Scientific American, Science News, MSNBC and Discover Magazine.
The lecture is sponsored by the Distinguished Traveling Lecturer Program of the Division of Laser Science of the American Physics Society. It is open free to the public.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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