Science
Light beam 'swims' upstream through a quantum fluid by violating Newton's third law
Just as a leaf drifts along with a stream, objects in other moving fluids normally drift along with the flow. That is, unless they exert energy to move against it.
AI Summary
Researchers explain that, like objects drifting with a fluid, light waves normally travel with the flow of a light stream. To travel upstream, a photon or particle must experience an external force or actively expend energy to move against the light current. This behavior parallels how a leaf follows a water stream unless pushed upstream, illustrating the conditions under which light can “swim” opposite its propagation direction.
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