Optical isotropy of space

V. V. Ragulsky

doi:10.1117/12.340144

25 February 1999 Optical isotropy of space

V. V. Ragulsky

Proceedings Volume 3736, ICONO '98: Quantum Optics, Interference Phenomena in Atomic Systems, and High-Precision Measurements; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.340144
Event: ICONO '98: Laser Spectroscopy and Optical Diagnostics: Novel Trends and Applications in Laser Chemistry, Biophysics, and Biomedicine, 1998, Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract

Precision comparison of refractive action of condensed medium (glass) on light waves propagating in different direction was carried out. Measurements showed that its reaction index is independent of the spatial orientation of the medium to an accuracy of 5 (DOT) 10^-8. It is known that the index equals the ratio between phase velocities of light in air and glass. Hence, it follows from the above-mentioned results, either both of these velocities are isotropic, with greatly high precision or they are equally anisotropic. A special experiment was made of the selection from these variants. The idea of this experiment was to follow dependence of the light passage time along asymmetric loop upon this loop orientation. The asymmetry (provided by placing a glass rod into a part of the loop), should have resulted in dependence of indicated time on light velocity anistropy. It has been established that phase velocity of light in the laboratory can be treated independent on direction with relative accuracy not worse than 5 (DOT) 10^-8 or, perhaps, within two orders better.

Citation Download Citation

V. V. Ragulsky "Optical isotropy of space", Proc. SPIE 3736, ICONO '98: Quantum Optics, Interference Phenomena in Atomic Systems, and High-Precision Measurements, (25 February 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.340144

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