How a Time Reversal Mirror Works (IMAGE)

Washington University in St. Louis

How a Time Reversal Mirror Works

Caption

A conventional mirror (bottom) does not correct the distortion of a wavefront produced by the water-filled bottle in this illustration. A time reversal, or phase conjugating, mirror (top), on the other hand, produces a wavefront that precisely retraces the path of the light, as if time were going backward. It reverses the distortions introduced by the water, producing a perfect image of the tiger.

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