Theoretical Metamaterial Performing Photonic Calculus (IMAGE)
Caption
A study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, The University of Texas at Austin and University of Sannio in Italy, shows that metamaterials can be designed to do "photonic calculus" as a light wave goes through them. A light wave, when described in terms of space and time, has a profile that can be thought of as a curve on a Cartesian plane. The researchers' theoretical material can perform a specific mathematical operation on that wave's profile as the light wave passes through the material. Working like an analog computer, the theoretical metamaterial illustrated here produces the derivative of the incoming wave's profile.
Credit
Alexandre Silva, University of Pennsylvania
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