New phenomenon found in internal waves
Internal waves — huge but nearly invisible ripples that occur in the oceans, the atmosphere and stars — can play an important role in climate change and other processes, but there is plenty about them that remains to be understood. In a significant new finding, however, MIT researchers have discovered that such waves can be analyzed using the same techniques physicists have developed to study the passage of light. “There’s a direct mathematical connection between how these waves travel in the ocean and the atmosphere, and the classical properties of an optical interferometer,” says Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Thomas Peacock. Optical interferometers use a pair of partially reflecting parallel mirrors to selectively block or transmit specific wavelengths of light, a technique widely used in fiber-optic communications systems, lasers and astronomical instruments. The method works because the beam of light is reflected back and forth between the two mirrors, and...