Seeing the quantum light

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Dr. Ben Thompson headshot
A new device being tested in the University of Waterloo Optometry Clinic may one day help prevent the leading cause of vision loss in older adults – and it all started with a chance conversation among quantum physicists.

Dmitry Pushin, a professor in the department of Physics and Astronomy, was talking to another physicist about his team’s quantum light research when the colleague mentioned that Ben Thompson, a professor in the School of Optometry and Vision Science, was studying macular degeneration and how the eye and brain see light.

Professor Ben Thompson, School of Optometry & Vision Science

Pushin’s team, based at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), had been asking the question: “Can people see quantum light with the naked eye?”

When his research team proved the human eye could indeed see quantum light, they wondered: “What can we do with this?”

Across campus, Thompson and his team were researching eye exams, asking: “How do we compare what people think they see to what they actually see?”

Read the whole story in the latest edition of Waterloo Magazine.