The authors of the new work have created zero-index metamaterials and offer new insights into the fundamentals of quantum
Since the dawn of quantum physics, motionlight and its interaction with objects were described mathematically, through the prism of its energy. In 1900, Max Planck used energy to explain how heated objects emit light. This became a seminal study in the field of quantum mechanics. In 1905, Albert Einstein used energy when he introduced the concept of the photon.
Any object with mass and speed hasmomentum—from atoms to bullets to asteroids—and momentum can be transferred from one object to another. A pistol has recoil, which occurs when fired because the momentum of the bullet is transferred to the pistol.
On a microscopic scale, the atom bounces,when it emits light, since the momentum from the photon has been transferred to it. Atomic recoil, first described by Einstein, is the fundamental property that governs the emission of light.
But a century after Planck and Einsteina new class of metamaterials has appeared, due to which these fundamental phenomena cease to be so obvious. The new metamaterials have a refractive index close to zero. This means that when light passes through them, it does not propagate as a wave. Instead, the wave stretches out to infinity, creating a constant phase. When this happens, many of the typical processes of quantum mechanics stop working, including atomic recoil.
This happens because in these metamaterials, the wave momentum of light becomes zero, and when the wave momentum is zero, strange things happen, the authors said.
“Fundamental radiative processes are notoccur in near-zero 3D materials,” says Michael Lobet, a research fellow at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). "As you can see, this work calls into question the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics."
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