Dr. Dentcho Genov, an assistant professor of physics and electrical engineering
at Louisiana Tech University
and a Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI) Institute fellow, is featured
on the cover of the most recent issue of Nature Physics, one of the most respected
and prestigious physics journals in the world.
 | | This is the cover of Nature Physics' September 2009 issue. Credit: Image courtesy of Nature Physics |
Genov's groundbreaking work titled, "Mimicking celestial mechanics in
metamaterials," links the newly emerging field of artificial optic materials
with celestial mechanics in order to investigate celestial phenomenon in a controlled
laboratory environment. Metamaterials are artificial structures that display
properties beyond those available in naturally-occurring materials.
"Nature Physics is the leading physics magazine in the world and only
features research that, according to their criteria, is of 'extreme importance
to scientists in a specific field' and that has broad interest," says Genov.
"This recognition shows the importance placed by the international physics
community on the research Dr. Genov brings to Louisiana Tech," says Dr.
Lee Sawyer, professor and physics program chair in Louisiana Tech's College
of Engineering and Science.
Genov along with researchers from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanoscale
Science and Engineering Center at the University of California and the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley collaborated on this article.
Using elements of Einstein's theory of relativity, this research allows scientists
to observe more closely how light and matter behave around massive celestial
objects such as "black holes."
The effect on light due to curved space-times generated by complex gravitational
fields can now be reproduced with precisely engineered artificial optical materials,
referred to in the literature as "metamaterials."
"It may be possible, in the very near future for scientists to closely
study the interaction of light with strange objects such as 'black holes' or
to borrow from the stability of planetary motion to create new types of near-perfect
optical traps that can effectively 'store' light," says Genov.
This featured research is also closely related to technology Genov and others
helped develop for the "invisibility cloak", which involves metamaterials
that can conceal objects from almost anything that travels as a wave, including
light, sound and, at the subatomic level, matter itself.
"The future of metamaterials for both research and application is still
uncharted territory," says Sawyer. "What Dr. Genov has shown us is
only the first of a wave of novel uses of these materials in the study of fundamental
physics questions."
The "invisibility cloak" was ranked #7 in both Time and Discover
magazines' lists of the Top 100 Science Stories of 2008.
"This recognition confirms that the engineering and science faculty at
Louisiana Tech are contributing significantly to relevant and vital science
discoveries," says Dr. Stan Napper, dean of Louisiana Tech's College of
Engineering and Science.
"Our students are directly benefiting from these outstanding researchers
who are also outstanding educators."
Posted September 10th, 2009
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