New Quantum Imaging Technique IDs Objects Using a Single Photon
Physicists have long been able to "ghost image" -- that is, to use a split laser beam to detect the presence of an object without actually seeing or interacting with it -- but the process is complicated and can take a while. Now physicists say they've devised a simpler means to detect the presence of a known object using a single photon. Ghost imaging involves splitting a laser and firing the beams at two different photon detectors, one of which is behind the target object and one of which is set up as a "camera." The laser will at intervals produce two identical photons simultaneously, and from those simultaneous hits on the photon detectors -- the first detector won't register any photons that bounce off the target -- an outline of the object is created at the "camera" detector. While this is a cool concept, with an even cooler name, it's short...