Category:
Research Papers
Sub-Category:
Mechanics / Electrodynamics
Date Published:
November 08, 2016
Keywords:
Sagnac effect; fringe shift; constant speed of light; angular velocity; ballistic speed of light; headlight effect; rotating interferometer; ballistic beaming.
Abstract:
The primary objective, in the present investigation, is to calculate time-of-flight differences between the co-rotating beam and the counter-rotating beam, over the optical square loop of the Sagnac interferometer, in accordance with the assumption of velocity of light dependent upon the velocity of the light source; and then to compare the obtained results to the computed time-of-flight differences between the same two beams, based on the assumption of velocity of light independent of the velocity of the light source. And subsequently, on the basis of the numerical results of those calculations, it's concluded that, because of the presence of ballistic beaming, the Sagnac interferometer, and rotating interferometers, generally, are incapable of providing any conclusive experimental evidence for or against either one of the two diametrically opposed assumptions, under investigation. In the 1913 Sagnac experiment, for instance, the numerical values of the time-of-flight differences, as predicted by these two propositions, differ from each other by no more than an infinitesimal fraction equal to about 10^-30 of a second.
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