Frozen Light

so far no one has managed to get to 0K right? well they say that, in short, everything stops at this temperature, electrons, molecules....photons?

now would 0K make light freeze? or "freeze"?

now yes i know that light isnt physical matter, but energy is still a type of matter, like solid, liquid, gas and plasma. so....if it were to be cold enough....could you freeze light?

If I'm not mistaken, Stopping, Freezing and Slowing light has been done in labs already. With all kinds of methods, 1 of em was with hot gasses even.

In 2002 it was done with super cooled Sodium atoms slowing the light photons to 17 meters per second.

So yes, you can slow light down or put it to a full stop with cold temperatures, as long as you have a matter medium for the light to go trough.

wouldnt freezing light stop time, if theres no light theres no day or night or anything, right?

Not Really only your perception of time.....it doesnt really matter anyway.....im not talking about stopping light......i could do that by flicking the switch next to my door.....

what im imagining is a block of frozen matter....inside of which a "frozen" beam of light

Originally posted by Schmidt1989
wouldnt freezing light stop time, if theres no light theres no day or night or anything, right?

That's just clock time, not real time. The universe doesn't revolve around GMT.

Light travelling through cold travels slower, that was done last year. As for at 0K, well, possibly, although I remember reading something that light would have some nonzero velocity at 0K. However, we won't ever hit absolute zero, or if we do we can't know that we did - Heisenberg and all that. (damn nazi! )

yes by aproaching to 0K they are able to slow the speed of light and recently I remember reading some article around where scientists were able to decrease the speed of light as slow as a bicycle.

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer

That's just clock time, not real time. The universe doesn't revolve around GMT.

Your absolutly right Amorymeltzer. It revolves around the Central time zone


As far as freezing light. I dont think it is the light that freezes, but rather the light properties of the medium the light is traveling through is being manipulated into slowing down the light itself. Ill do some checking and see if I can find a link.

Light travelling through cold travels slower, that was done last year. As for at 0K, well, possibly, although I remember reading something that light would have some nonzero velocity at 0K

thats it Amorymeltzer...thts what i was asking...yur like..the only person whos actually understood so far

yea ok so light wont be frozen in a block of ice or whatever but if it could be done as quoted above, if light were to be slowed or cooled to nonzero velocity would it become solid???? orr.....plasma perhaps??? would we be able to touch it.....o wait it would be at 0K...well its environment anyway.... the light would just be slowed BECAUSE the environment was at 0K but whos nitpickin neways it probably cant be done......sigh

would be cool though......solid light and all.....like.....an icicle of light...

[edit on 7-5-2005 by Shadow88]

Originally posted by Shadow88
would be cool though......solid light and all.....like.....an icicle of light...

[edit on 7-5-2005 by Shadow88]

Yeah That'd show those North Koreans Whose boss.


Edited to sound a little less racist and a little more to do with current events.
[edit on 7-5-2005 by Azza]

[edit on 7-5-2005 by Azza]

I don't think it'd be solid, but then again I can't say much about how photons would interact as intermolecular forces. No reason to form a solid.

Azza: I don't get it, and that's totally uncalled for.

Amrymeltzers right WTF?

oooo wed show the Koreans we can get to 0K and "freeze light"?



ah wel

I was just wondering what OK means. I know what absolute zero is. whats OK

No. Sorry my apologies, there was no intended racism there, again my apologies.

I'd just finished reading a very large news post about North Koreans testing Nuclear devices underground. Anyway, there was much anti-Korean sentiment in the thread, and discussion of how the US would stop them going about this, and I guess it was occupying my mind, it was intended as a very poor joke, Sorry.

Originally posted by Ignorance Is Bliss
I was just wondering what OK means. I know what absolute zero is. whats OK

It's not O it's 0. The first is the letter "Oh" the second is the number zero.

0K refers to Zero Kelvin, otherwise known as absolute zero.

Thanks, Azza, although what does current events have to do with stopping light?

be assured that my link between the North Koreans and the Prospect of freezing light was based soley on satire and not reason

Freezing light as a wave or as particles?? You could do it if the light were in particle form, but in wave form, most likely not. It would be like freezing sound waves. What makes something frozen is the slowing of the molecules. If you slow/freeze a waves, they disappear. Particles become "light" through acceleration. If you slow/freeze particels, no acceleration, no light. In order to freeze light, you would have to basically stop time.