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Science Section => Science General Discussion => Physics & Cosmology => Topic started by: Unbeliever on October 05, 2017, 03:08:52 PM

Title: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Unbeliever on October 05, 2017, 03:08:52 PM
This is kind of like an oscilloscope, but more interesting. It uses very simple apparatus to produce some really pretty patterns:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-V1uXeyGmg








Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: trdsf on October 05, 2017, 03:26:08 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on October 05, 2017, 03:08:52 PM
This is kind of like an oscilloscope, but more interesting. It uses very simple apparatus to produce some really pretty patterns:
Well, that's my weekend sorted...
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Unbeliever on October 05, 2017, 03:28:25 PM
Someone showed that to me yesterday, and the first thought I had was how much y'all might enjoy it.
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: trdsf on October 05, 2017, 03:38:24 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on October 05, 2017, 03:28:25 PM
Someone showed that to me yesterday, and the first thought I had was how much y'all might enjoy it.
I'm already planning on three mirrors in three different areas of the balloon surface, with three different color lasers...
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Unbeliever on October 05, 2017, 03:58:51 PM
Maybe you could use one of those disco balls, full of mirrors, and lots of lasers. What a show!

:letsparty:
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Baruch on October 05, 2017, 07:40:47 PM
Descartes, who invented analytic geometry, and loved fancy curves, would have loved this.  Notice the pattern comes back to the start point.  Chaos wouldn't do that, harmonics do.  What is happening in one respect is, each curve is parametric, and the parameter is cyclic (like a sine wave).  But there is periodic modulation sometimes overlapping modulation, that takes it out of mere oval territory.
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Unbeliever on October 06, 2017, 05:12:05 PM
It's almost like watching the subatomic strings vibrating, but we can only see two dimensions of the vibrations.
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Baruch on October 06, 2017, 07:56:49 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on October 06, 2017, 05:12:05 PM
It's almost like watching the subatomic strings vibrating, but we can only see two dimensions of the vibrations.

Well, that is true, because we can't see in 4-d or non-Euclidean either.  Certainly in the "wave" view of QM ... there is a lot of vibrating going on.
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Blackleaf on October 07, 2017, 11:22:19 AM
That's really cool. The visualization of sound fascinates me.
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Baruch on October 07, 2017, 12:19:02 PM
Quote from: Blackleaf on October 07, 2017, 11:22:19 AM
That's really cool. The visualization of sound fascinates me.

Artificial synesthesia ... you can see your speech.  Of course first achieved with writing.
Title: Re: A laser oscilloscope?
Post by: Cavebear on October 08, 2017, 04:22:30 AM
Quote from: Unbeliever on October 05, 2017, 03:08:52 PM
This is kind of like an oscilloscope, but more interesting. It uses very simple apparatus to produce some really pretty patterns:




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-V1uXeyGmg

Big deal.  I made pretty patterns on the wall of my dorm room with a strong flashlight aimed at small mirrors glued to a rubber membrane over a speaker in 1968...  And added a rotating color wheel in front of it the next semester.

And we had paint that was invisible in daytime but lit up with a black light...