arXiv · physics/9906038
Optics of Nonuniformly Moving Media
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 model 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.
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U. Leonhardt, P. Piwnicki. 1999-12-13. Optics of Nonuniformly Moving Media. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.60.4301
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