tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post7649263002891667286..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: LaserFest 2010Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-39223038876863140562010-02-03T11:39:03.690-05:002010-02-03T11:39:03.690-05:00Pink laser ruby self-destructs. Internal flaws, d...Pink laser ruby self-destructs. Internal flaws, dust on a rod face, too much power then internal self-focusing will blow the rod. All is not lost! Cut a gemstone blank, cut and polish facets, then add a megarad of Co-60 gamma sterilization. There results an extraordinary padparadscha color.Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-87184253624616721732010-02-03T07:42:23.168-05:002010-02-03T07:42:23.168-05:00Oh, what have I done? I brought up the subject of ...Oh, what have I done? I brought up the subject of Laser pointers a mere 4 days before The Super Bowl. I found that clip disturbing, Phil, but thanks anyway. I always considered Hockey to be a unification of two previously-thought un-unifiable sports: Field Hockey on Skates, and Amateur Boxing. Having said that, it's terrible when the fans intervene, and in such a nasty harmful way. <br /><br Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-51578651106897255512010-02-03T07:00:53.358-05:002010-02-03T07:00:53.358-05:00Hi Steven,
Well in terms of mayhem we can’t quite...Hi Steven,<br /><br />Well in terms of mayhem we can’t quite give Doctor evil his wish, yet the hearts of some can still seem find ways to cast Einstein’s wonderful thought in a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz5FyBoBDFM" rel="nofollow">bad light</a>. <br /><br />Best,<br /><br />PhilPhil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-40023156620889382232010-02-03T06:42:10.715-05:002010-02-03T06:42:10.715-05:00Hi Stefan, I'm pretty sure that laser Magician...Hi Stefan, I'm pretty sure that laser Magician clip was quite staged. He's a professional illusionist, and it was dark as well. A simple wrist flick could explain the falling hoop, a wire the hanger, and two small laser pointers in his hands (and lots of practice) the other stuff.<br /><br />Yes, Goldfinger and '63. Hmm. Interesting. Well, I'm sure there was much competition at Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-14973808277290505812010-02-03T06:35:49.946-05:002010-02-03T06:35:49.946-05:00Hi Stefan,
A very nice piece and just at a time w...Hi Stefan,<br /><br />A very nice piece and just at a time when I was wondering when we might again see something of yours. I noticed the discussion about the Bond film as to whether the laser as depicted was for the time a reality or rather science fiction and would in the context of application suggest it represented neither. That’s because as Einstein had long since written the paper to Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-17761089632973341752010-02-02T23:32:50.511-05:002010-02-02T23:32:50.511-05:00I remember all the excitement over the laser in th...I remember all the excitement over the laser in the 1960s. I even got an introductory book when I was in high school. It suggested building a ruby laser as a science project, borrowing a ruby crystal, silvering it and building a xenon flash tube rig to set it off. By the late 60s there were some CO2 lasers being used for industrial purposes, but it was the He Ne (pronounced hee-nee) lasers that Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-86315813092329575212010-02-02T17:26:46.047-05:002010-02-02T17:26:46.047-05:00Dear Bee,
well, the wavy line has indeed been mad...Dear Bee,<br /><br />well, the wavy line has indeed been made with the "photon propagator" from the feyn.gle package.<br /><br /><i>Wasn't there a Nobelprize recently for optical waveguides?</i><br /><br />Absolutely, <a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/" rel="nofollow">glass fibres</a>... And the guys from the other half of the price, CCD chips, had stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-50223867824813478002010-02-02T17:11:51.310-05:002010-02-02T17:11:51.310-05:00Hi Kris,
oh, it seems they also showed the Goldfi...Hi Kris,<br /><br />oh, it <a href="http://physicsworld.com/blog/2010/01/throwing_some_laser-generated.html" rel="nofollow">seems they also showed the Goldfinger clip</a> at the event - I had not read that post before, seems like I've had a good idea independently ;-)<br /><br /><i>... in which a magician called Latimer appeared to pick up a laser beam and spin it around his head. </i><br /><stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-29142552654134912010-02-02T16:58:42.032-05:002010-02-02T16:58:42.032-05:00Hi Steven,
so far I hadn't followed the story...Hi Steven,<br /><br />so far I hadn't followed the story up to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_laser" rel="nofollow">CO₂ laser</a> ;-)... thanks for bringing it up. Here is the <a href="http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v136/i5A/pA1187_1" rel="nofollow">Physical Review paper</a> where it is described, and <a href="http://www.laserk.com/newsletters/whiteTHE.html" rel="stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-40292314557983613092010-02-02T14:00:24.153-05:002010-02-02T14:00:24.153-05:00Go CU! (University of Colorado that is)
Maiman...Go CU! (University of Colorado that is)<br /><br />Maiman's undergraduate Alma mater.Michael Varneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13065021678052813916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-41987969230085912962010-02-02T13:37:08.847-05:002010-02-02T13:37:08.847-05:00Stefan: Good old gle... Is the wave a sin function...Stefan: Good old gle... Is the wave a sin function? It is ridiculously difficult to make a decent periodic "wavy line" with most drawing applications. They have all kinds of fancy features for polygons (stars, elipses, filled, non-filled etc) but if you want to make a sin function, you're on your own and end up using splines trying to define the coordinates of points periodically. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-48639285749239890802010-02-02T13:31:37.963-05:002010-02-02T13:31:37.963-05:00Wasn't there a Nobelprize recently for optical...Wasn't there a Nobelprize recently for optical waveguides?Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-81524715771219892252010-02-02T13:21:59.172-05:002010-02-02T13:21:59.172-05:00Hi Stefan,
Physics World has a piece on the “Cir...Hi Stefan,<br /><br /><i>Physics World</i> has a piece on the “Cirque du Laisaire” event sponsored by the SPIE. They say:<br /><br /><i>The highlight of the evening was the laser magic show, in which a magician called Latimer appeared to pick up a laser beam and spin it around his head. The trick didn’t get much applause, but there’s a reason for that; as the man next to me commented, “Right Kris Kroghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07340827856086381459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-24595803362837872432010-02-02T12:32:43.572-05:002010-02-02T12:32:43.572-05:00From Wiki, to save you the trouble:
The carbon di...From Wiki, to save you the trouble:<br /><br />The carbon dioxide laser (CO2 laser) was one of the earliest gas lasers to be developed (invented by Kumar Patel of Bell Labs in 1964[1]), and is still one of the most useful. Carbon dioxide lasers are the highest-power continuous wave lasers that are currently available. They are also quite efficient: the ratio of output power to pump power can be Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-75426835444123908882010-02-02T12:23:10.622-05:002010-02-02T12:23:10.622-05:00Most excellent, Stefan. Righteous props. One Grand...Most excellent, Stefan. Righteous props. One Grandfather's name was also Stefan, but the Ellis Island clerks wrote it as Steven. Good name. Sorry if I sounded like Sean Penn in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."<br /><br />Stefan, if it's not too much trouble, could you squeeze in a mention of the carbon dioxide laser? It has tremendous industrial uses, and I happen to know its Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-73695038469566335802010-02-02T12:20:33.542-05:002010-02-02T12:20:33.542-05:00Oh, indeed, it's home-made GLE graphics ;-)Oh, indeed, it's home-made GLE graphics ;-)<br /><br>stefanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09495628046446378453noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-42082720493629356132010-02-02T12:04:50.785-05:002010-02-02T12:04:50.785-05:00Did you make the first picture yourself? The color...Did you make the first picture yourself? The colors look very Stefan-ish ;-pSabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.com