Two parallel spaces, one physical setup

Two parallel spaces, one physical setup

A new photonic mechanism uses nonlocal artificial materials with multiple shifted dispersions to make one physical space emulate two parallel spaces for photons, described as two distinct optical media occupying the same physical space but accessible only through different boundaries. The work also shows photonic analogies of two striking ideas: photonic wormholes as invisible optical tunnels with configurable effective refractive index for tunneling photons, and photonic multiple realities where two arbitrary optical devices or scatterers occupy the same physical space while operating independently. The numerical and experimental results verified the theory consistently, and the findings are presented as an emulation rather than an actual realization of parallel spaces, wormholes, or multiple realities.

Gobble's Take: Reality keeps getting harder to pin down when even “separate” spaces can be staged in the same place. Source: Nature

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