Lasers Breakthrough Fabric of Reality

Advances in gene editing, artificial intelligence and 5G technology generally make people uneasy as science pushes the boundaries of reality.

These past decades saw scientists experimenting on high velocity elementary particles such as the Hadron Collider and other quantum mysteries.

In a “hold my beer” moment laser physicists recently announced they are developing a laser so powerful it can shred all matter, including the very electrons and nuclei that make-up the fabric of reality itself.

Earlier this month, the physics journal Physical Review Letters, published a paper discussing how new technology could allow a high velocity laser to pierce through the fabric of the universe.

The trick according to a researcher is to anchor and focus the laser using a mirror made of plasma.

In an analysis for Ars Technica, a physicist and writer broke down the logistical hurdles the new technique could overcome.

The gist of it, scientists can muster an intensity of 1022W/cm2, the point when a plasma state kicks in and creates a conductor gas of excited particles whose electrons reflect light.

Using a plasma mirror, scientists can reach 1029W/cm2 and accelerate electrons to the point where they generate real changes from the apparent nothingness of empty space.

The way the mirror oscillates also means the light frequencies are multiples of each other says Chris Lee.

The mirror reflects all these colors together adding up to a pulse that is even shorter in time.

The shorter wavelength also means the light focuses on a smaller spot.

Ultimately, “They can all stare in wonder at the hole they made,” Lee concludes.

Previous laser experiments have sought to discover virtual particles, extra dimensions, and even dark matter. Last year, Chinese scientists used a 100-petawatt laser — “10,000 times more energy than there is in all the world’s electrical grids combined” — to try and produce electrons out of the quantum ether by separating them from their antimatter twins.

For now, it appears we are going to have to trust that scientists know what they are doing with the fabric of reality.