A new study by scientists from Weizmann Institute says that when two light particles called photons bump into each other, they make something called vortices. In many situations, such as swirling water in a bathtub or swirling air in a tornado, these vortices resemble swirling patterns.
These researchers were looking for better ways to use light particles for fancy computer stuff like quantum computing. They were surprised when they saw that when two photons met, they created these swirling patterns.
This finding may contribute to the improvement of quantum computing.
The scientists created a unique setup with a small area packed with microscopic particles in order to conduct their experiment. They shot light through this space and watched what happened.
The tiny particles were excited by the light and produced a force field of sorts, they discovered.
When two light particles came close because of this force field, they changed their speed and made a twist in their wave patterns. This twist is known as a vortex.
When they added a third light particle, things became even more intriguing. It revealed that these vortices formed part of a larger swirling pattern.
While the scientists are excited about these swirling light patterns, they are also considering how to use this discovery to create super-powerful computers.
They want to figure out how to manipulate these swirling patterns in order to store and process information in a novel way.
