Optics
Category archives for Optics
Greenhouse Physics and Car Shades
Posted by Chad Orzel on September 19, 2011 I got a new comment on an old post asking an interesting question about thermodynamics: I have a question that bears somewhat on this issue of keeping cars parked in the sun, cooler. You all know those accordion folded/aluminized shades you can put up inside the windshield and back window. Seems to me putting them…
How Good Are Polarized Sunglasses?
Posted by Chad Orzel on July 28, 2011 A while back, I explained how polarized sunglasses work, the short version of which is that light reflected off the ground in front of you tends to be polarized, and by blocking that light, they reduce the effects of glare. This is why fishermen wear polarized sunglasses (they make it easier to see through the…
What’s So Interesting About Quantum Phenomena?
Posted by Chad Orzel on July 1, 2011 Third of the five research categories within DAMOP that I talked about is Quantum Phenomena. This is a little bit of a catch-all, as there are a few different things going on in this area. They are all unified, though, by the fact that they end up making quantum mechanical effects manifest in some way,…
What’s So Interesting About Extreme Lasers?
Posted by Chad Orzel on June 30, 2011 The second in the DAMOP research categories I talked about is “Extreme Lasers,” a name I was somewhat hesitant to use, as every time I see “Extreme [noun],” I get a flash of Stephen Colbert doing air guitar. It is, however, the appropriate term, because these laser systems push the limits of what’s possible both…
What’s So Interesting About Ultracold Matter?
Posted by Chad Orzel on June 29, 2011 The first of the five categories of active research at DAMOP that I described in yesterday’s post is “Ultracold Matter.” The starting point for this category of research is laser cooling to get a gas of atoms down to microkelvin temperatures (that is, a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero. Evaporative cooling can…
What’s So Interesting About AMO Physics?
Posted by Chad Orzel on June 28, 2011 That’s the title of my slightly insane talk at the DAMOP (Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics of the American Physical Society) conference a couple of weeks ago, summarizing current topics of interest in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics. I’ll re-embed the slides at the end of this post, for anyone who missed my…
DAMOP Day 2
Posted by Chad Orzel on June 16, 2011 One of the odd things about going to conferences is the unpredictable difference between talks and papers. Sometimes, when you go to a talk, you just get an exact repetition of what’s in the paper; other times, you get a new angle on it, or some different visual representations that make something that previously seemed…
DAMOP Day 1
Posted by Chad Orzel on June 15, 2011 Tuesday at DAMOP was dominated by my talk. Well, in my mind, at least. I suppose people who aren’t me saw other interesting things. OK, fine, I did go to some other sessions. I would link to the abstracts, but the APS web site is having Issues this morning. In the Prize Session that always…
What’s So Interesting About AMO Physics?
Posted by Chad Orzel on June 14, 2011 That’s the title of my talk this morning at DAMOP, where I attempt the slightly insane feat of summarizing a meeting with over 1000 presentations in a single 30-minute talk. This will necessarily involve talking a little bit like the person reading the legal notices at the end of a car commercial, and a few…
ResearchBlogging by Proxy: Physics on “Coherent Light Scattering from a Two-Dimensional Mott Insulator”
Posted by Chad Orzel on June 13, 2011 You may or may not have noticed that I’ve been making a concerted effort to do more ResearchBlogging posts explaining notable recent results. I’ve been trying to get at least one per week posted, and coming fairly close to that. I’ve been pretty happy with the fake Q&A format that I’ve settled into, and while…
