Bending laser light using magnetic field

[Sputnik]

If a large enough magnetic field is setup around a laser, can the laser beam be deflected?

Sputnik :idea:

 

[pisoiu]

bending laser

One such effect was observed during sun eclipses, the observed positions of the stars which were around the sun were sligthly out of their known position. Aparently, the sun affected the trajectory of the light from those stars. I assume you will need a field of a comparable magnitude.....or something else

/pisoiu

 

[FoxyRick]

how to bend a laser light

Light (photons) has no charge, and B and E fields only affect charged particles, so no, it should not be deflected by a magnet, no matter how stong.

Gravity can deflect light due to light/energy/mass equivalence.

There's an interested thread on all this here:

**broken link removed**

FoxyRick.

 

[Sputnik]

bending laser electromagnetic

Then how do those 3D laser lights work that you always see in clubs?

Sputnik :idea:

 

[House_Cat]

sputnik lazer

No, the path of light is not affected by the presence of a magnetic field.

Light itself has oscillating electromagnetic fields, and follows the linear properties of electric and magnetic fields. Linearity means that the fields are simply additive or subtractive, and do not interact with one another. If you add a magnetic field to the existing magnetic field of light, the combined magnetic field will simply be the sum or difference of the two where the external field exists. The orginal field of the light is unchanged, and the original external field is unchanged - the light continues through the external field unchanged. The reach of the external field is also unchanged by the passage of the light.

Gravity does cause light to change direction. If you could create a gravity well, you could bend light with that. Gravity is not a field - it is a warp in the time space continuum (at least that is what Einstein said, and nobody has proven him wrong).

A magnetic field can change the path of a laser beam if it is applied to a material through which the light passes, or from which the light is reflected. The material would have to be one which changes refractive or reflective properties when subjected to a magnetic field, and such materials do exist. They are called magneto-optic materials.

 

[cube007]

bending of lights

Then how do those 3D laser lights work that you always see in clubs?

Sputnik :idea:

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