Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42668315›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Photon trapping in a time cavity flying at the speed of light.

Ihar Babushkin, Oliver Melchert, Uwe Morgner, Ayhan Demircan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ihar BabushkinCluster of Excellence PhoenixD, Welfengarten 1, Hannover, Germany. babushkin@iqo.uni-hannover.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9686-0811
Oliver MelchertCluster of Excellence PhoenixD, Welfengarten 1, Hannover, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5128-3763
Uwe MorgnerCluster of Excellence PhoenixD, Welfengarten 1, Hannover, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5103-9632
Ayhan DemircanCluster of Excellence PhoenixD, Welfengarten 1, Hannover, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0015-2077

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A strong optical pulse in a nonlinear medium can serve as a trap for photons. Photon confinement in such a trap moving at the speed of light is best described as time-trapping. Here we reveal unusual properties that fundamentally distinguish it from conventional trapping. Time-trapped states can exhibit zero leakage through the trap walls and possess extremely broad spectra while remaining genuine single modes with well-defined phase. Linear beatings between modes enable waveform reshaping in both the temporal and spectral domains. Time-trapped states support efficient coupling to external radiation, allowing fundamentally more efficient loading of energy than stationary cavities and surpassing the conventional Lorentz time-bandwidth limit linking lifetime and bandwidth in conventional resonant systems. Time-traps support exotic phenomena including halo states and anomalously large transmission delays. These properties apply equally to weak classical wavepackets and single-photon states, opening new opportunities for ultrafast classical and quantum photonics.

Identifiers

PMID42668315
PMCPMC13526024

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.