Story perspectives

Physicists Spot Superluminal Optical Vortices in Boron Nitride

5/5/2026

Summary

Story summary

Physicist Ido Kaminer’s team at Technion demonstrated optical singularities moving at 1.04 c.
They captured the motion with ultrafast electron microscopy and free-electron Ramsey imaging on a hexagonal boron nitride membrane.
Just before annihilation, some phase-singularity vortices appeared to exceed light speed while carrying no mass, energy or information.
Polaritons in the boron nitride travel about 100 times slower than light, enabling the superluminal motion to be tracked.

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Story summary

Physicist Ido Kaminer’s team at Technion demonstrated optical singularities moving at 1.04 c.
They captured the motion with ultrafast electron microscopy and free-electron Ramsey imaging on a hexagonal boron nitride membrane.
Just before annihilation, some phase-singularity vortices appeared to exceed light speed while carrying no mass, energy or information.
Polaritons in the boron nitride travel about 100 times slower than light, enabling the superluminal motion to be tracked.