Use of time-correlated single photon counting detection to measure the speed of light in water

Abstract

Traditional methods for measuring the speed of light in dispersive media have been based on the detection of interference between light waves emitted from the same source. In the present study the elapsed times for single photons to move from a laser to a photomultiplier tube are measured electronically. Time-correlated single photon counting detection produces a characteristic instrument response which has the same shape independent of both the path length the light travels and the nature of the transparent media through which it passes. This allows for an accurate calibration of the chronograph by observing shifts in the location of the instrument response for different distances traveled by the light. Measurement of the corresponding shift which occurs when light moves the same distance through air and water then enables an accurate determination of the ratio of the photon velocities in these two media. Three different wavelengths of light have been used. In two cases good agreement is found between the present measured light speeds and those which can be inferred from existing refractive index measurements in water. The shortest wavelength studied is too far in the uv to obtain a reliable estimate on the same basis, and so the ng value (1.463) measured in the present work awaits independent confirmation. A theoretical discussion of the present results is undertaken with reference to Newton's original corpuscular theory of light. It is argued that his failure to predict that light travels more slowly in water than in air arose from the inadequacy of his mechanical theory rather than his assumptions about the elementary composition of light.