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sagnac effect

ydoaPs
in Relativity

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um, i didn't catch what the actual effect is. after reading that article, all i know is it has something to do with interference patterns of photons on circular path on a spinning rig. i heard that this effect was once thought of as disproof of relativity. why was that so?

um, i didn't catch what the actual effect is. after reading that article, all i know is it has something to do with interference patterns of photons on circular path on a spinning rig. i heard that this effect was once thought of as disproof of relativity. why was that so?

 

Because you measure the speed of light to be something other than c; you get c+v and c-v terms for the speeds. But it's not an inertial system, so it does not contradict special relativity.

 

When you rotate the system, a light beam travelling one direction travels further, while a beam in the other travels a shorter distance, so there is a phase change between them, and interference fringes are observed. The solution depends on the rotation speed and the enclosed area. Because of this, it can be used as an accelerometer for rotations.

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