software laser

2 definitions found

software laser - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  software laser
  
     An optical laser works by bouncing photons back and forth
     between two mirrors, one totally reflective and one partially
     reflective.  If the lasing material (usually a crystal) has
     the right properties, photons scattering off the atoms in the
     crystal will excite cascades of more photons, all in lockstep.
     Eventually the beam will escape through the partially
     reflective mirror.
  
     One kind of sorcerer's apprentice mode involving bounce messages
      can produce closely analogous results, with a
     cascade of messages escaping to flood nearby systems.  By
     mid-1993 there had been at least two publicised incidents of
     this kind.
  
     [Jargon File]
  

software laser - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  software laser
   n.
  
     An optical laser works by bouncing photons back and forth between two
     mirrors, one totally reflective and one partially reflective. If the
     lasing material (usually a crystal) has the right properties, photons
     scattering off the atoms in the crystal will excite cascades of more
     photons, all in lockstep. Eventually the beam will escape through the
     partially-reflective mirror. One kind of sorcerer's apprentice mode
     involving bounce messages can produce closely analogous results,
     with a cascade of messages escaping to flood nearby systems. By
     mid-1993 there had been at least two publicized incidents of this
     kind.