Research on Metamaterials Featured in MIT Technology Review

Dr. Igor Smolyaninov

Clark School Visiting Research Scientist Igor Smolyaninov, a researcher in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was featured in the MIT Technology Review. The piece, titled "How To Build a Multiverse," examines how metamaterials can be used as special models with their own laws of physics, making it possible to create a representation of the birth of a new universe.

Metamaterials are artificial substances that are engineered to interact with and control electromagnetic waves. They can be designed to steer electromagnetic waves around, over and behind objects to create invisibility cloaks that hide objects. 

Smolyaninov explains that it is possible to create metamaterials that are analogous to various kinds of spaces to explain aspects of the Universe. He also asserts that it could be possible to create metamaterials with electromagnetic spaces in which some dimensions are compactified. It could be possible to observe the birth of photons in these regions, offering a representation of how a new universe is created.

The article can be viewed on the MIT Technology Review website.

Published May 20, 2010