A web page about the experiment, including a FAQ and some slides,
is at http://www.neci.nj.nec.com/homepages/lwan/gas.htm. Be sure to
see http://www.neci.nj.nec.com/homepages/lwan/gasmov.htm, which has a
really impressive 2-MB Quicktime movie showing an animation of a light
pulse passing through the "FTL" material (with the degree of advancement
being exagerrated for clarity).
This simulation is IMO inaccurate and somewhat deceptive, in that the
material begins to react seemingly before the leading edge of the input
pulse reaches it. However if it were a theoretically perfect Gaussian
pulse, there would be no such thing as a leading edge, in that the
pulse would extend infinitely in both directions, with exponentially
decreasing intensity. In that case then yes, the material could react
as they have shown it. But in the real world pulses aren't like that,
and it would not be possible to advance the pulse by as much as is shown
in this simulation.
Hal
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