Brief Communications
Nature 432, 165 (11 November 2004) | doi:10.1038/432165a; Published online 10 November 2004
Laser beams: Knotted threads of darkness
Jonathan Leach1, Mark R. Dennis2,3, Johannes Courtial1 & Miles J. Padgett1
Destructive interference may lead to complete cancellation when light waves travelling in different directions cross, and in three-dimensional space this occurs along lines that are vortices of electromagnetic energy flow1. Here we confirm theoretical predictions2, 3 by experimentally creating combinations of optical laser beams in which these dark threads form stable loops that are linked and knotted.
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
- H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TL, UK
- School of Mathematics, University of Southampton, Highfield SO17 1BJ, UK
Correspondence to: Jonathan Leach1 Email: j.leach@physics.gla.ac.uk
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