ISBN 9783843901529

978-3-8439-0152-9, Reihe Physik

Endre Kajari
Perspectives on Relativistic Sagnac Interferometry

155 Seiten, Dissertation Universität Ulm (2011), Hardcover, B5

Zusammenfassung / Abstract

Since the seminal work of Georg Sagnac in 1913, Sagnac interferometers developed into very accurate and reliable devices for rotation measurements, which are used for the navigation of ships, submarines, airplanes and spacecrafts. Large ring-laser gyroscopes allow the determination of the time dependent variation of Earth's rotation axis and are considered to be promising candidates for the detection of general relativistic effects like the Lense-Thirring effect.

In view of future interferometer experiments in space, this thesis provides a detailed analysis of the main contributions that arise in a fully relativistic description of Sagnac interferometry for light. Based on a particular interferometer geometry, one can measure the rotation relative to a freely falling local inertial frame, as well as the influence of spacetime curvature on the evolution of the two counter-propagating light rays in the interferometer.