Related papers: Fizeau's "aether-drag" experiment in the undergrad…
I show the decisive difference between genuine transverse Fresnel drag of light in a moving medium and the "spatial shift" measured with a time dependent interference pattern of light traversing a homogeneous finite medium (J. Leach et al.,…
This paper completes a three-part study of Einstein's 1905 special relativity by reconstructing the experimental pressures that shaped his thinking from 1895 to June 1905. Following Stachel's historiographical line, I trace Einstein's path…
We present a fully model-independent analysis of the extensive observations reported by a recent ether-drift experiment in Berlin. No a priori assumption is made on the nature of a hypothetical preferred frame. We find a remarkable…
This contribution shows that the main topics of Relativity can be discussed at an elementary level and in a considerable extent - including the formal results of "Time Dilation" and "Lorentz Contraction" - by a minor modification of the…
A relativistic transient absorption theory is derived, implemented and validated within the dipole approximation based on the time-dependent Dirac equation. Time-dependent simulations have been performed using the Dirac equation and the…
A recent theory by Feigel [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 92}, 020404 (2004)] predicts the finite transfer of momentum from the quantum vacuum to a fluid placed in strong perpendicular electric and magnetic fields. The momentum transfer arises…
The advantage of attosecond measurements is the possibility of time-resolving ultrafast quantum phenomena of electron dynamics. Many such measurements are of interferometric nature, and therefore give access to the phase. Likewise, weak…
We describe a laser interferometer experiment for the undergraduate teaching laboratory that achieves picometer sensitivity in a hands-on table-top instrument. In addition to providing an introduction to interferometer physics and optical…
We propose an experiment to test the influence of Lorentz contraction on the interference pattern of a beam of electrons. The electron beam is split and recombined by two pairs of bi-chromatic laser pulses, using a variation of the…
We verify the use of an evaporating sessile water droplet as a source of dynamic interference fringes in a Fizeau-like interferometer. Experimentally-obtained interference patterns are compared with those produced by a geometrical…
In principle, by accepting the idea of a non-zero vacuum energy, the physical vacuum of present particle physics might represent a preferred reference frame. By treating this quantum vacuum as a relativistic medium, the non-zero…
In a previous paper published in this journal, we described a new relativistic wave equation that accounts for the propagation of light from a source to an observer in two different inertial frames. This equation, which is based on the…
We study the van der Waals frictional drag force induced by liquid flow in low-dimensional systems (2D and 1D electron systems, and 2D and 1D channels with liquid). We find that for both 1D and 2D systems, the frictional drag force induced…
We study the drag force on objects moving in a Fermi superfluid at velocities on the order of the Landau velocity $v_L$. The expectation has been that $v_L$ is the critical velocity beyond which the drag force starts to increase towards its…
Ultrafast laser ablation is an extremely precise and clean method of removing material, applied in material processing as well as medical applications. And due to its violent nature, it tests our understanding of the interplay between…
The Fluorescence Detector (FD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory provides a nearly calorimetric measurement of the primary particle energy, since the fluorescence light produced is proportional to the energy dissipated by an Extensive Air…
In recent years, photon drag has attracted enormous attention owing to both fundamental and practical interests. In this paper, by presenting a density-matrix approach, we have theoretically demonstrated an enhanced photon drag in a moving…
The spring-mass system studied in undergraduate physics laboratories may exhibit complex dynamics due to the simultaneous action of gravitational and elastic forces in addition to air friction. In the first part of this paper, we describe a…
Interacting fermion systems in one dimension, which in the low energy approximation are described by Luttinger liquid theory, can be reformulated as systems of weakly interacting particles with fractional exchange statistics. This is shown…
Recent advances in atom interferometry have led to the development of quantum inertial sensors with outstanding performance in terms of sensitivity, accuracy, and long-term stability. For ground-based implementations, these sensors are…