Mathematical cloaks

University of Utah mathematicians have developed a new cloaking method that someday might shield submarines from sonar or planes from radar.

’We have shown that it is numerically possible to cloak objects of any shape that lie outside the cloaking devices, not just from single-frequency waves, but from actual pulses generated by a multi-frequency source,’ said Graeme Milton, a distinguished professor of mathematics at the University of Utah.

Although the new cloaking method has only been simulated to work in two dimensions, Prof Milton believes it can be extended easily to three dimensions, meaning real objects could be cloaked.

In use, the new active cloaking method would shield devices that actively generate electromagnetic fields rather than being composed of ’metamaterials’ [exotic metallic substances] that passively shield objects from passing electromagnetic waves.

Milton said his previous research involved just cloaking clusters of small particles, but added that his team are now able to cloak larger objects.