Interference

Abstract

Abstract 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.