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Content archived on 2024-06-18

Light in moving media

Objective

"The interaction of light with matter is traditionally studied in media that are either still or moving at a negligible fraction of the speed of light. In this regime standard text-book results apply. However, if the medium or, more generally speaking, certain parameters that distinguish the medium such as the refractive index are made to change or move close to the speed of light then new and unexpected scenarios emerge. For example, if the medium refractive index is not moving but is made to oscillate at high, e.g. optical frequencies, then a parametric interaction occurs with an incident light beam amplified transformed into a new pair of light beams. If closed within cavity mirrors, amplification by the oscillating medium is enhanced and even vacuum photons are be excited in correlated pairs in a process analogous to the dynamical Casimir effect. We will also consider the opposite regime in which the refractive index profile does not oscillate but is made to move forwards close to, or even faster than the speed of light. Again we encounter surprising effects: light propagating in such a moving medium finds an elegant description in terms of a space-time metric in which space is flowing in much the same way in which water flows in a river or in which space flows in a gravitational field. Under appropriate conditions the analogy can be extended to black holes and the analogue of an event horizon for light is formed by the perturbation. Light is frequency shifted at the horizon and is also amplified: the horizon acts as a parametric amplifier. The perturbations required for these and other related effects described in the proposal will be experimentally obtained using intense laser pulses and nonlinear optics and thus open a fascinating new area of laser physics."

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

ERC-2012-StG_20111012
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-SG - ERC Starting Grant

Host institution

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY
EU contribution
€ 1 556 579,80
Address
RICCARTON
EH14 4AS Edinburgh
United Kingdom

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Region
Scotland Eastern Scotland Edinburgh
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data

Beneficiaries (1)

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