Optics in Curved Space (original) (raw)

Physical Review Letters, 2010

Abstract

We experimentally study the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic curvature of space on the evolution of light. We show that the topology of a surface matters for radii of curvature comparable with the wavelength, whereas for macroscopically curved surfaces only intrinsic curvature is relevant. On a surface with constant positive Gaussian curvature we observe periodic refocusing, self-imaging, and diffractionless propagation. In contrast, light spreads exponentially on surfaces with constant negative Gaussian curvature. For the first time we realized two beam interference in negatively curved space.

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