Year: 1999
Type: article
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.
Source: Physical Review A
Authors: U. Leonhardt, P. Piwnicki
Institutions: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Universität Ulm
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2226817661