A mirror that rapidly turns the wavefront of the reflected laser pulse on and off, 

characteristic of Thomas Young's classic double-slit experiment.

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A famous experiment in 1801 showed that light passing through two thin slits interfered with itself,

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forming a characteristic striated pattern on the back wall.

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Now, physicists have shown that a similar effect can be produced with two slits in time rather than space:

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a single mirror that is rapidly switched on and off causes interference with the laser pulse,

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causing it to change colour. .

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The results are reported in Nature Physics1 on 3 April. This adds a new twist to the classic double-slit experiment performed by physicist Thomas Young.

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