The Surprising Behavior of "Whirlpools" of Light

The fastest timescales. The highest pressures. Absolute zero. The nanoscale. These conditions are far from our everyday experience, but studying how things behave in different situations can reveal a more complete picture of their nature--and can lead to revolutionary breakthroughs. Click to enlarge.This false-color map of a random light field includes a large number of a feature called C points, described below. The colors reflect the electric field's polarization, and the circles and triangles...