The concept of "being on the same wavelength" or "being in phase" is important in more than just romantic relationships.

Fumihiko Kannari (Professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering)

It is known that some plants grow faster when exposed to Mozart's music and wither when exposed to rock music. I want to try to achieve this scientifically by coherently manipulating matter with ultrafast light pulses. For example, suppose there are two reaction channels where ABC can become A + BC or AB + C. Although the time scale of nuclear motion is as short as 10 ^-11 to 10 ^-14 seconds, by irradiating the substance with light pulses of a similar duration at precisely the right timing, we can control the reaction to produce products from only one of the channels. Alternatively, by irradiating a crystal with short light pulses—much like pushing a swing—we can resonantly excite only specific lattice vibrations to oscillate with a large amplitude. This could lead to the creation of new solid states and the emergence of advanced functionalities. This is the kind of potential impact that lies within the applied field of ultrafast optoelectronics. Light enables, for the first time, coherent control in the 10 ^-15 second domain, something impossible with purely electronic technology. By using light, humans can gain a fine-tuning knob that was previously unavailable. To venture into science fiction for a moment, it might be possible in the near future to transmit the ideas I'm trying to convey on this page directly, without using text, by directing a "song" (a temporal sequence of light bundles) created by a light synthesizer at the brain.