How close are we to invisibility?

APA Entry

Choi, J. S., & Howell, J. C. (2014).  Paraxial Ray Optics Cloaking. Cornell University Library             (1037-1042).  

            In this article, Choi studied the science behind a cloaking device.  First, he defined invisibility as certain aspects that have to be present for it to be usable, such as the device would be the object's space behave the same as if the invisible object was not there.  He then used ABCD matrices to express visibility in terms of math.  Then, by using terms of zero and infinity, he attempted to find a real life solution that would satisfy invisibility mathematically.  Though he found no perfect solution, he found that using a four lens system was easily the closest to the ideal equation.  In order for his findings to be advanced, Choi also listed the limitations of his findings, such as they were using an ideal environment and usually looking through the lens at a zero degree angle.  With any significant change in the angle, the invisibility was ineffective, showing the object around the edges of the lens.

            Invisibility is a very interesting topic.  Considering all the difficulties scientists face, many people don't understand how truly hard it would be to create a cloaking device.  I personally was a bit ignorant to several hurdles, such as the definitions of invisibility listed in the article.  This form of invisibility, using only lens, would not be extremely useful for many circumstances other than concealing things.  However, the findings of this research could lead to a greater scale use, such as the plane cloaking systems shown in science fiction movies.

            The researchers in this article did most of their own math and research.  They used some established equations and principles on the subject, but they were mostly independent.  This lends a high degree of validity to their work.  Their methods were very logical, as they disregarded theoretical solutions and instead pursued real life solutions that approached the perfect equation.  They experimented with the two best theories currently, being the three lens and four lens systems.  Overall, this research was very convincing and seemed well done.

           There are no major advancements in this field of study as a result of this research, however, this research, along with several other projects, could lead to a much greater overall understanding about how invisibility works scientifically.  The models they laid out are well established, but their research found that a four lens approach was much more effective than a three lens approach.  This could lead other researchers to continue this evaluation of the three lens approach, and even possibly try to conquer some of the limitations listed by Choi about his own research.  

            I learned about how complicated manipulating optic fields can be.  Humans tend to oversimplify the eye, when in reality it is quite possibly the most complex part of the human anatomy.  I further learned how to read a difficult article.  I have very little understanding about the eye or optic fields.  I further don't understand the physics of light.  This article was written almost completely in the language of this field however, forcing me to slow down and make sure I understood.  After several reads, I was often able to break a complex statement down into small bits of information that I could understand.