Citizenship Canadian Residence Moncton, Canada Role Physicist | Name Alain Hache Notable students Louis Poirier | |
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Known for Supraluminal phenomena in photonic crystalsCanada Research Chair in Photonics 2003–2013 Books The physics of hockey, Slap Shot Science: A Curious Fan's Guide to Hockey Education University of Toronto, Universite de Moncton Fields Physics, Photonics, Optics | ||
Institutions Universite de Moncton | ||
Alain Haché (born 14 December 1970, in Tracadie, New Brunswick) is an experimental physicist, a professor at the University of Moncton, Canada. From 2003 to 2013 he held the Canada Research Chair in Photonics. He is also the author of The Physics of Hockey and Slap Shot Science, two popular science books on ice hockey.
In 2002, he and undergraduate student Louis Poirier transmitted faster-than-light electrical pulses through a 120-metre long "photonic crystal" made of coaxial cables of alternating characteristic impedance (12 pairs of 50 Ω and 75 Ω cables). The experiment showed that the pulse envelope was recreated at the end of the cables at a speed of >3 c. Since this speed represents the group velocity but not the signal velocity, no energy or information was actually traveling faster than light.