Optics of nonuniformly moving media

U. Leonhardt and P. Piwnicki
Phys. Rev. A 60, 4301 – Published 1 December 1999
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Abstract

A moving dielectric appears to light as an effective gravitational field. At low flow velocities the dielectric acts on light in the same way as a magnetic field acts on a charged matter wave. We develop in detail the geometrical optics of moving dispersionless media. We derive a Hamiltonian and a Lagrangian to describe ray propagation. We elucidate how the gravitational and the magnetic models of light propagation are related to each other. Finally, we study light propagation around a vortex flow. The vortex shows an optical Aharonov-Bohm effect at large distances from the core, and, at shorter ranges, the vortex may resemble an optical black hole.

  • Received 22 June 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.60.4301

©1999 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

U. Leonhardt1 and P. Piwnicki1,2

  • 1Physics Department, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Lindstedtsvägen 24, S-10044 Stockholm, Sweden
  • 2Abteilung für Quantenphysik, Universität Ulm, D-89069 Ulm, Germany

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Issue

Vol. 60, Iss. 6 — December 1999

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