A laser beam passes through a region of thermal disturbance and projects a dancing spot onto a screen. Investigate what information about the disturbance can be recovered from the motion and shape of the spot.
The Setup
Shine a laser over a hot plate - watch the spot dance. That pattern isn't random. But here's the real question: can you work backwards?
The Challenge
Given only the dancing spot, what can you determine about the disturbance that caused it?
- Its temperature?
- Location?
- Size?
- Structure?
Is information lost - or encoded in ways no one has fully mapped for a simple, portable setup any researcher can build?
Why It Matters
This is the same inverse problem astronomers face when starlight dances through atmospheric turbulence. Crack it on your kitchen table - and you're touching the physics that limits every telescope on Earth.
