In 1977 George Lucas’ film Star Wars took us to a galaxy far, far away. Cool futuristic technology allowed people to travel at the speed of light through space, to use directed energy weapons to kill people (and whole planets) and to have your own walking and talking personal assistant, just as long as you could tolerate them. Perhaps the piece of technology that caught the public’s attention the most though was the lightsaber.
We saw a lightsaber for the first time when young Luke Skywalker was in Ben Kenobi’s home. Luke was given his father’s lightsaber and given his introduction to the ways of the Jedi. We also got to see what a lightsaber could do not only when Darth Vader killed Kenobi but also in 1980 when Darth Vader cut off Luke’s hand with his lightsaber in the sequel The Empire Strikes Back. It was a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice with their lightsabers at their side along with the help of the Force. Kids and adults alike were fascinated with this and even today it is one of the most popular Star Wars toys on the market with both children and with cosplayers. (OK, sure you can have a lightsaber but its plastic with light bulbs, not the same!)
So for those of you who either have never seen Star Wars or need a recap what is a lightsaber? The main piece of technology is in an approximately foot long hilt. Inside that are two crystals that focus energy from a power cell into a beam of energy. Controls on the hilt allow the user to turn it on or off and to control the length of the energy beam which is lethal. It can cut through nearly anything, from flesh and bone to heavy plate armor. It can be used to deflect a blast from a blaster and it is also the only thing powerful enough to stop another lightsaber. These are the weapons of choice for both Jedi and their opponents the Sith and for a young Jedi their right of passage is the construction of their own lightsaber. They can even be made to have multiple blades and the crystals used determine the color of the blade.
Since 1977 people have dreamt of owning their own lightsabers. Just take one look around a Comic-con and you will see that. Those dreams may soon become a reality. In 2013 researchers at Harvard and MIT managed to get photons to come together and form a new state of matter. Further experiments have brought those photons together to form photon triplets forming another new state of matter. With these triplets bound together they have formed what is essentially an atom-sized lightsaber.
This new state of photonic matter is what has done it. Normal photons, which are essentially light particles, can pass around each other with no problem. Cross the beams of two flashlights and you don’t exactly blow up the known universe. Cross two laser beams and you are going to still be there to tell the story. As of right now these triplets form for only a millionth of a second but they do form and now the next question comes with how to extend that time and harness it.
This discovery can have far more implications than just for an aspiring Jedi on planet Earth. This could present us with a huge leap forward with quantum computing. Since light can be transmitted over long distances these triplets could potentially allow these entangled photons to transmit information. It could revolutionize the way that computing is done here on Earth. Faster computers and lightsabers are not a bad combination!