Physicists Tied Laser Beams into Knots

Live Science  August 3, 2018 An international team of researchers (Canada, UK, USA – University of Rochester, University of Birmingham) created the knots by tuning the polarization of two beams of light. The knots formed around “polarization singularities” where the beams intersected and a number of other wavelengths of light looped around them. At those points, light bent in the way the researchers wanted. The knots were visible enough in images of the light wave data for them to identify the figure eights and toruses. They also confirmed their findings using formal knot theory mathematics. They hope this technology will […]