Rochester (NY) - A professor of mathematics at the University of Rochester named Allan Greenleaf has solved a mathematical problem which could bring electromagnetic wormholes (EMW) into existence.  These EMWs would create a full invisibility cloak in a tube which surrounds whatever they were employed to hide.  Such devices could eventually be employed to make true 3D TV possible, and without special glasses.


It sounds like something out of science fiction, and the researchers themselves admit this is a long way off from practical application.  However, scientists are now theorizing about such things and believe that they are ultimately possible.  To understand what the true 3D TV would look like and how it would operate, let's first look at the properties of the EMW.



In their simplest forms, EMWs are basically tubes.  They create a specific type of EM field around an object, one which refracts electromagnetic waves of all frequencies, according to the researchers.  The EM radiation continues on from its source as it would've without the tube being there.  Sounds great, but what's the practical application?

It would be like an invisible paper towel roll.  When you hold it up, the light from behind is refracted around, no matter which way it was turned, producing a true invisibility cloak.  These tubes would then be placed in such a way as to surround an object, thereby making the object inside appear invisible.  The researchers indicated that the field generated would also cause an odd side effect.  If, for example, you were to look in one end of the tube and out the other side, the generated field would produce a fish-eye appearance, or something like an Escher drawing, making the tube's through-image appearance distorted.

The scientists were able to take their theory and apply it to practical applications, at least in a mental exercise.  For example, micro-surgery in the presence of an MRI system would be possible.  Since any tools a surgeon might need to use would greatly distort the MRI field and subsequent display the surgeon would use, the desire to electromagnetically cloak all parts of the tool except for the very tip would be prevalent.  This would result in a significantly greater ability for surgeons to see what they'd be doing with greater image quality and accuracy, and in real-time through the MRI.  Fewer distortions means potentially life-saving solutions as they guide tools more expertly through computer assistance.

Potentially one of the more exciting future aspects of the design would be the 3D TV.  How would it work? Consider fiber optics lights and the bundle of cords which shine the light out from some central source.  When the cords are held together they produce a lot of light.  Individually however, they are tip lights only which, while sometimes pretty, don't convey a lot of light.  Well, for the 3D TV something similar would be used.

Imagine an array of toothbrush-like bristles extending up from a projection source.  The bristles would be of different lengths, however, fully occupying all points in a cube, each comprising a single dot at a given X/Y/Z coordinate.  Rather than just having a pixelated surface image as with traditional TV, layer after layer of pixelated images would be created, each corresponding to a specific layer or slice of the 3D image being projected.

Now, using traditional fiber optics cables to achieve this effect is theoretically possible today.  However, the cables themselves would quickly get in the way.  Anything below the second or third layer would become very difficult to see.  The interference from the fibers themselves would distort the light, making it dim and probably completely obstructed below the first few layers.

The mathematicians involved in carrying out this research have suggested that by cloaking all of the fiber optic stems from source to tip, all of the emitted light from inside of the cube would be visible, thereby allowing for 3D TV.  Rather than the stems obstructing the light from all the 3D pixels, they would simply carry the light around the EMWs straight to the eye.  One of the researchers described it as "a thousand pixels suspended in mid air." They admit it's a long ways off, but mathematically it is possible, and it is something they're thinking of.

Why the scientists refer to these types of tubes as electromagnetic wormholes is a mystery to TG Daily.  Perhaps they were using the new tube a lot after it was first created, like the way a child holds and plays with a new toy.  They saw the definition for wormhole through the tube and the jumbled mass of words made sense.  Probably not.  Still, if anyone has thoughts...

Greenleaf is the same mathematician who first perfected the math for the "invisibility cloak," which was published in October last year.  Greenleaf also worked with Matti Lassas, professor of mathematics at the Helsinki University of Technology; Yaroslav Kurylev, professor of mathematics at the University College, London; and Gunther Uhlmann, Walker Family Endowed Professor of Mathematics at the University of Washington, in completing this work.  It will appear in full in an October 19th issue of Physical Review Letters.

Oh Nos

Oct 16, 2007 10:52     

What will we do with all our laser targeting equipment?
NaughtyGeek report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

EM Waves, harmfull for the human body?

Oct 16, 2007 12:02     

Electro magnetic waves, when fluctuating are harmfull to the human body. Atoms have positive, and negative parts, and are charged either positive or negative themselves. EM waves do attract or reject any object that is charged electrically (see Moore's law?), and thus shifting electro magnetic fields shift atoms inside of cells. The shifting of atoms on molecular level could cause dissaray in important life containing substances, like amino acids etc..., which will cause errors and mutuations in the creation of new DNA strings. That could lead to the creation of unwanted tumors cancer, or other deseases. I wonder if this has a steady EM field, like for instance a magnet, or a fluctuating one. (For reference: the magnetron switches fields about 24million times per second. This is enough to move atoms side to side, which causes friction between them, and thus heat is generated in any water (H2O) containing material. Stuff a person in such radiation, and he'll die. I fear for our eyes!

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The reason its called an EMW

Oct 16, 2007 12:29     

The probable reason its called an EMW is because like wormholes you enter on one side ande exit on another without moving through the intervening space. These tubes effectively do the same. The light enters on one side and is rerouted in such a way it doesn't move through the intervening space. The main difference with a true wormhole is that there still is some form of line between A and B that's continueous and isn't shorter then a direct line. For true wormholes the line from A to B is shorter than the normal, direct line.

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Makes me wonder...

Oct 16, 2007 13:18     

What is already cloaked in naturally occuring EMWs that we haven't seen yet. :)
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Reply: "Hrm"

Oct 16, 2007 13:33     

...better turn off that computer screen then
Ehrm report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

So funny...

Oct 16, 2007 13:45     

Reading Hrm's fears about EM radiation is humorous... People hear the word "radiation" and freak out. Light, radio, WiFi, even infrared from the front of a remote control is all considered EM radiation. Like anything, in large enough doses, it can be dangerous (Reading a book in a properly lit room, versus staring at the sun, for instance). Also, not trying to bust your chops, but a microwave oven's magnetron functions at approximately 2400 MHz (2.4 GHz), not 24 MHz. This is one of the reasons WiFi (b/g) is susceptible to interference while cooking. :)

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Sorry, HRM, not quite right there...

Oct 16, 2007 14:51     

I'm afraid your physics is a little incorrect. When described as a wave phenomenon, EM waves are always "fluctuating" unless you mean the source is turning on and off, which is irrelevant. A "static" EM field is not an EM wave and does not propagate. A "standing" wave can be generated in a tuned cavity(like in a microwave oven) where the EM field appears to be stationary, but it is actually the superposition of propagating EM waves. Here on Earth, the human body is constantly bombarded with EM waves (e.g. Radio waves, TV broadcasts, Cell phone communications, cosmic radiation, etc.) and I am unaware of solid evidence that this type of radiation is significantly harmful to humans. Even if it were, exposure would be unavoidable. Also, atoms in general are not charged positively or negatively. Most are neutral and must be ionized for them to acquire a net charge. Certain EM waves can ionize the atoms in cell tissue and this is indeed detrimental to the organism. Such "ionizing" radiation would be something like an X-Ray and that is why exposure is now limited to the minimal necessary amount.

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Physicist: HRM possibly correct

Oct 16, 2007 16:16     

There has been a fair amount of research into the effects of pulsating EM fields, such as those generated by microwave ovens. Some of the research suggests the 'ripping' action might manifest in unexpected ways. I know that rocket scientists were caught off-guard by the effects of 'jerk factor' years ago, so it wouldn't suprise me to find something here, as well. More research is clearly needed to draw good conclusions.

Cerian report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

.........

Oct 17, 2007 01:15     

Send all of the worlds criminals into a dark hole
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re: the pathologist

Oct 17, 2007 03:52     

i dont think that will help.. its not going to send them to a dark place, in fact from my understanding, they should be able to see out through the worm hole from inside, but people wont be able to see them anymore. sending criminals into that situation will cause them the ability to do anything they want without ever leaving evidence
skythra report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

ok, ok

Oct 17, 2007 07:52     

Ok I get your point. This would be useful in training criminals however to learn how to become ideal citizens by watching culturally domesticated ones outside. Nowbody would even know they were there. But whom is to say who is crazier. Do angels teach man, or the other way around?
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re: "Hrm"

Oct 18, 2007 14:11     

Sounds like 10% fact and 90% conclusion drawn from opinion. Please realize that EM radiation comes from far more sources than most people understand. Your body, for instance, is a producer of EM "radiation!" Heat produces light with a frequency just below what our eyes can observe. Could you imagine what the world would look like if our eyes could see infrared? We'd never sleep... our eyelids would produce "light" from the inside flooding our retinas. Shoot, even our retinas would produce visible light (if we could see infrared). I like Physicist's response -- application without all the math.

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re: rico

Oct 19, 2007 07:10     

the guy who discovered this also unraveled the theory behind the cloak. Just one year proceeding that, the cloak was successfully proven.
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Physics lesson on vision

Oct 19, 2007 13:47     

Skythra, anything inside the wormhole would not be able to see out. Keep in mind please. Vision is a result of light from an object reaching our eyes. According to this wormhole theory, light coming from the outside bends around the wormhole. It doesn't go in to the inside, so from the inside there would be absolutely nothing to see. Light never reaches the inner observer. Now, what happens to light being generated from inside is another matter. That light will probably escape just fine... so you could see IN but not OUT.

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Re: Cerian

Oct 19, 2007 16:22     

I do not disagree that EM radiation can cause damage via more mechanisms than just ionization. My point was only that an unqualified statement that "fluctuating EM fields cause damage" is not correct. All EM waves are "fluctuating" (i.e. the electric and magnetic field vector magnitudes exhibit sinusoidal variation in amplitude) but not all EM waves are dangerous. Even the shortest pulse of EM radiation is composed of these fluctuating magnetic and electric fields. There are many factors that determine how EM radiation interacts with a target like: frequency; power; energy density; duration, molecular and quantum structure of the target material; etc. Depending on the combination of these factors the EM radiation might not interact significantly with the target at all. For example, the human cornea is relatively transparent to near IR and IR wavelengths. Consequently, an IR source could propagate through the cornea largely unaffected, reach the retina, and cause damage. Conversely, UV light is absorbed in the cornea and will not damage the retina. Putting aside the debate about the dangers of low power EM radiation sources, a significant point overlooked pertaining to the present article is the fact that these "wormholes" are not generating any EM radiation. They are only redirecting EM waves that are already present and that are impinging on them. So...no need to fear this technology...except in the event that an alien creature uses it for camouflage, hunts you down like an animal, and takes your skull for a trophy. Then, I guess it's OK to be a little afraid.

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our universe and the predator

Oct 22, 2007 12:53     

MoreBeer, If the worm hole makes it impossible to see anything outside of it... sounds like what we can 'see' in our / the universe. Where there's nothing to be seen beyond our own internal system. Also, the EMW sounds like it's the opposite of a black hole, I wonder if this technology will help scientists understand how they work as well. Physicist, Now we can fight the predators on a level playing field.

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What happens when you drop one of those tubes?

Apr 22, 2008 09:30     

How would you find it?
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