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Making monster waves
October 20, 2009Physicists are discovering ways to build rogue waves out of light
Rogue waves-giant waves that spring up suddenly and tower over the seas around them-have inspired physicists to look for an analogue in light. These high-intensity pulses can cross large distances without losing information. Now a team of physicists have identified one set of conditions that produces optical rogue waves. Their findings are reported in Physical Review A and highlighted with in the October 19 issue of Physics (physics.aps.org).
Rogue waves were thought to be a sailor's tall tale until an 85-foot wave broke over an oil platform in the North Sea in 1995. Since then, scientists have tried to understand how such outsized waves arise from the erratic interactions of smaller waves on a choppy sea, with an eye toward creating them on purpose in the form of light traveling in an optical fiber.
While versions of quantum mechanical equations describe how optical rogue waves evolve, it's still difficult to pinpoint the conditions necessary to get them started. Now Nail Akhmediev of the Australian National University and his team have identified one possibility using theory-breathers, or small peaks that appear suddenly in one spot and disappear almost immediately, could seed rogue waves. Akhmediev's team found that two or three breathers, if they collide in exactly the right place at the right time, form an optical rogue wave. The researchers say the effect could be seen in water waves in a long, narrow tank. Their findings increase scientists' understanding of how to cook up optical rogue waves for communications applications.
American Physical Society
American Physical Society
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A freak wave at sea is a terrifying sight. Seven stories tall, wildly unpredictable, and incredibly destructive, such waves have been known to emerge from calm waters and swallow ships whole.
UCLA engineering researchers capture optical 'rogue waves'
Maritime folklore tells tales of giant "rogue waves" that can appear and disappear without warning in the open ocean. Also known as "freak waves," these ominous monsters have been described by mariners for ages and have even appeared prominently in many legendary literary works, from Homer's "Odyssey" to "Robinson Crusoe."
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When Walter Craig saw the images of the devastating 2004 Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami he felt compelled to act. So he grabbed a pencil and envelope and started calculating.
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Out of the Shadow by Rogue Wave This quartet effuses vitality, all the while infusing their damaged melodies with casual charm. "Rogue Wave seems like a classic Bay Area band, in the tradition of Thinking Fellers and Barbara Manning--they've just got that vibe"--Carl Newman, The New Pornographers. This debut was originally released in a limited quantity on the band's own label in 2003, and has been re-mastered for this re-release. |
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DESCENDED LIKE VULTURES by ROGUE WAVE This is where Rogue Wave, the band, really gets started. As Oakland-based singer/songwriter/arranger Zach Rogue puts it, "this record is the sound of four people's ideas colliding." Descended Like Vultures, Rogue Wave's second full-length for Sub Pop, is a velvety, darkly dichotomous album: pop vs. despair; hope vs. realism. Whereas Rogue's `04 release, Out of the Shadow, was for all intents and purposes a solo project, Descended Like Vultures finds Zach Rogue's unapologetic hooks and soaring melodies built up skyscraper-high by bandmates and mulit-instrumentalists Pat Spurgeon, Gram LeBron and Evan Farrell, who have grown close and road-seasoned thanks to a year of intensive international touring with The Shins, The Helio Sequence, TV on the Radio, and Mates of State. While... |
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