According to Einstein's theory of relativity, the speed of propagation of an electromagnetic wave in a vacuum is a universal constant. However, as scientists at the University of Ottawa found out, when creating the so-called swirling light, the movement of the wave slows down by 0.1%, according to The Optical Society.
Swirling light is a wave with orbital angular momentum. For ease of understanding, it is compared to a corkscrew. This phenomenon should not be confused with wave polarization, since they have a different flux front. In particular, the swirling light, when projected, does not create a spot, but a ring.
Scientists emphasize that the slowing down of wave propagation does not contradict the theory of relativity. According to the researchers, such light has to travel a greater distance to overcome the distance between two points, since it does not move in a straight line.
The authors of the work intend to study other types of structured radiation. They do not exclude that in the course of experiments they will be able to obtain "accelerated" light. So far, they have only theoretical calculations that do not refute the possibility of this.
Fedor Alekseev