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Mathematicians Can Conjure Matter Waves Inside an Invisible Hat |

Invisibility, once the subject of magic or legend, is slowly becoming reality. Over the past five years mathematicians and other scientists have been working on devices that enable invisibility cloaks — perhaps not yet concealing Harry Potter, but at least shielding small objects from detection by microwaves or sound waves.

A University of Washington mathematician is part of an international team working to understand invisibility and extend its possible applications. The group has now devised an amplifier that can boost light, sound or other waves while hiding them inside an invisible container.

“You can isolate and magnify what you want to see, and make the rest invisible,” said corresponding author Gunther Uhlmann, a UW mathematics professor. “You can amplify the waves tremendously. And although the wave has been magnified a lot, you still cannot see what is happening inside the container.”

The findings are published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

As a first application, the researchers propose manipulating matter waves, which are the mathematical description of particles in quantum mechanics. The researchers envision building a quantum microscope that could capture quantum waves, the waves of the nanoworld. A quantum microscope could, for example, be used to monitor electronic processes on computer chips.

The authors dubbed their system “Schrödinger’s hat,” referring to the famed Schrödinger’s cat in quantum mechanics. The name is also a nod to the ability to create something from what appears to be nothing. continue reading