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Parhelic Circle, Sun Dogs and Pillars observed with Soap Bubbles
We studied how laser light is scattered by foams, and when we illuminated the border between soap bubbles, we have found a special light pattern. We have done a connection of this light pattern with the atmospheric optical phenomena known as parhelic circle, sun pillars and sun dogs. These phenomena are so interesting that, when they were observed in the sky of Rome in 1629, they led René Descartes stop thinking about Philosophy and turn his intellectual enthusiasm on the subject of Optics. Our results are in “Parhelic-like circle from light scattering in Plateau borders” Physics Letters A, v. 379, p. 529 (2015).
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0375960114012250
This paper originated a note in the site of the Science magazine:
http://news.sciencemag.org/physics/2015/02/researchers-create-laser-dogs-soap-bubbles
Until today, the explanations for these atmospheric phenomena took into account only Geometrical Optics and Monte Carlo calculations. In our paper, we explained the parlaseric circle using the Geometrical Theory of Diffraction created by Keller. This theory is on the border of Geometrical and Wave Optics, where light can be considered particle (in Newton’s sense) and wave, simultaneously. While the Keller’s theory had been observed only for electromagnetic waves (RF) and sound waves, our work presents for the very first time its application for visible light.
Videos about our paper:
A. P. B. Tufaile and A. Tufaile