The fundamental physics of frequency combs sheds light on nature’s problem-solving skills

Nature has a way of finding optimal solutions to complex problems. For example, despite the billions of ways for a single protein to fold, proteins always fold in a way that minimizes potential energy. This kind of optimization is explained by what’s known as a variational principle: any other deformation — or variation — of the shape found by the protein would require more energy. Now, researchers have found that some lasers use the same principle.

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