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Author Nolte, D. D., author.

Title Interference : the history of optical interferometry and the scientists who tamed light / David D. Nolte
Published Oxford, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2023]
©2023

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Cover -- titlepage -- copyright -- contents -- preface -- 1 Thomas Young Polymath -- 2 The Fresnel Connection -- 3 At Light Speed -- 4 After the Gold Rush -- 5 Stellar Interference -- 6 Across the Universe -- 7 Two Faces of Microscopy -- 8 Holographic Dreams of Princess Leia -- 9 Photon Interference -- 10 The Quantum Advantage -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary "Seeing a black hole at the heart of a distant galaxy is like standing in Paris and reading a newspaper in New York. How is this possible? And why can quantum computers compute impossible things in hours that would take classical computers the time since the Big Bang? The answer to these questions is interference. Optical interferometry is mankind's most sensitive form of measurement. In just the past several years, interferometry has been used to make the first image of a black hole, to demonstrate the first programmable quantum computer, and to detect the first gravitational waves. This recent list of "firsts" points to the fertile and active field of optical interferometry for which Interference provides a convenient and up-to-date guide for a wide audience interested in the science of light. This book tells the stories about the personal adventures experienced by the scientists and engineers who uncovered the vast wealth of optical interference phenomena. Beginning with Young's double slit experiment and the collaboration of Arago and Fresnel to prove the wave nature of light, to the detection of gravitational waves using kilometer-long laser beams, the history of interferometry has astonishing human drama that parallels the scientific drama of the discoveries"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from home page (Oxford Academic, viewed on August 1, 2024)
Subject Interferometry -- History
Interferometry
Physics.
Science.
Form Electronic book
Genre/Form History
ISBN 9780191965968
0191965960
019269684X
9780192696847