Reconstructing the phase of a field from intensity measurements is an old and ubiquitous challenge, known as the phase retrieval problem 1,2,3. It has found numerous applications spanning from ...

Several weeks ago I picked up “The Elegant Universe” because I thought it would have information on The Ultimate Theory. Soon afterwards, I picked up “How to Teach Physics To Your Dog” in order to get ...

Super-oscillation is a counterintuitive phenomenon describing localized fast variations of functions and fields that happen at frequencies higher than the highest Fourier component of their spectra.

Researchers announced last week that they had slowed down faint pulses of laser light and retrieved an image from that light after speeding it back up. In principle such "slow-light" technology might ...

The diffraction spikes so familiar to us in space images are an intrinsic property of the telescope. Reflecting telescopes have two mirrors: a large primary and a smaller secondary. Light hits the ...

The subtlest experiment in quantum mechanics is also one of the simplest: send a stream of particles through two openings in a barrier, and you’ll produce an interference pattern because the particles ...