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.
