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	The Michelson Interferometer
		The Michelson interferometer is often introduced in the context of special relativity where its historic role in providing evidence against the existence of an absolute rest frame defined by the electromagnetic ether is emphasized.
		Michelson's optical inventions have had enduring value and his interferometer in particular has become an indispensable tool in scientific applications such as high resolution spectroscopy and atomic length standards, and in technical applications, where displacements as small as a fraction of the wavelength of visible light must be measured.
		The interferometer you have assembled is typical of a configuration called a wavemeter that is used in modern laser laboratories to measure the wavelength of a laser light source with high precision and high accuracy.
	cat.middlebury.edu /~PHManual/michelson.html (3581 words)

	ALBERT ABRAHAM MICHELSON (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Figure 1:The Michelson interferometer consists of a half-transparent mirror that divides a light beam into two equal parts (A and B), one of which is transmitted to a fixed mirror and the other of which is reflected to a movable mirror.
		The interferometer is turned so that half beam A is oriented parallel to the Earth's motion and half beam B is perpendicular to it.
		With this knowledge Michelson goal was to use the sensitivity of his interferometer “to measure the Earth’s velocity against ether….
	www.u.arizona.edu /~brienna/MICHELSONEDIT_h.html (962 words)

	Michelson: Career and Influence
		Albert A. Michelson is renowned for his experiments and precise determinations of the velocity of light, ether drift, length of the standard meter, spectral lines, diameters of stars, and rigidity of the earth.
		Michelson accomplished his research and inventions in the course of his teaching career as a professor of physics at various institutions of higher education.
		Michelson was one of the first occupants of Ryerson Physical Laboratory in 1892, when he began working at he University of Chicago as a professor of Physics and the first Head of the Department.
	www.usna.edu /LibExhibits/Michelson/Michelson_career.html (1079 words)

	Planet Quest: Technology - Interferometry
		Early on Michelson was fascinated with the sciences and the problem of measuring the speed of light in particular.
		After serving as professor at Clark University at Worcester, Massachusetts from 1889, in 1892 Michelson was appointed professor and the first head of the department of physics at the newly organized University of Chicago.
		Michelson used the same principle of the swimmers in his first interferometer.
	planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov /technology/michelson.cfm (1127 words)

	Michelson-Morley Experiment
		In 1878, Michelson had made an excellent measurement of the speed of light at the age of 25, and he thought the detection of motion through the ether might be measurable.
		Michelson proceeded to invent a new instrument with accuracy far exceeding that which had been attained to that date, and that instrument is now universally called the Michelson interferometer.
		Michelson's terse description of the experiment: "The interpretation of these results is that there is no displacement of the interference bands.
	hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu /hbase/relativ/mmhist.html (852 words)

	Fabry-Perot Type Interferometer (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Interferometers are used both to measure distances in terms of wavelengths and to determine wavelengths of particular light sources.
		This interferometer was used by Irwin G. Priest for measuring the wavelength of neon light in 1912 --the first precision measurement of wavelengths published by NBS.
		The beam splitter of the Michelson Interferometer is replaced with a partially silvered mirror in the Fabry-Perot, and the fixed mirror is removed.
	museum.nist.gov /object.asp?ObjID=47 (461 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		One of the most famous applications of a Michelson interferometer is in the Michelson-Morley experiment, an attempt to detect the velocity of the Earth with respect to the hypothetical luminiferous ether, a medium in space proposed to carry light waves.
		The procedure depended on a Michelson interferometer, because this device can be used to compare the optical path lengths for light moving in two mutually perpendicular directions.
		Michelson reasoned that, if the speed of light were constant with respect to the proposed ether through which the Earth was moving, that motion could be detected by comparing the speed of light in the direction of the Earth's motion and the speed of light at right angles to the Earth's motion.
	grus.berkeley.edu /~jrg/ngst/michelson.html (522 words)

	Interferometers
		The Michelson interferometer is an optical instrument of high precision and versatility.
		While the Michelson interferometer is used with an extended light source, the Twyman-Green interferometer is used with a monochromatic point source which is located at the principal focus of a well-corrected lens.
		Usually the interferometers is used to measure the spectrum of a source by scanning the separation d between the two partially reflecting mirrors.
	electron9.phys.utk.edu /optics421/modules/m5/Interferometers.htm (1524 words)

	The Michelson Interferometer (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.cs.virginia.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Michelson explained to his children that his interferometer was simulating a race on a river between two swimmers.
		Michelson discovered that the relative speed of light is slower in the direction of motion.
		This is possible because Michelson had to rotate his apparatus (its main stone was floating on a mercury pond) in order to observe the difference in the interference fringes.
	www.glafreniere.com.cob-web.org:8888 /sa_Michelson.htm (3666 words)

	Phys 151 - The Michelson Interferometer - Fall 2006
		It splits a beam of light into two beams by a partially reflecting surface; the two beams travel along perpendicular paths and are then reunited to form an interference pattern; this pattern is sensitive to any differences in the speeds of the light traveling along the two paths.
		Michelson believed that it should be possible to detect a shift of this much with his interferometer, allowing him to show that light travels at different speeds in different directions.
		Michelson expected to see a difference in the interference patterns for the two orientations of the interferometer, which would have told him that light traveled at different speeds in different directions.
	it.stlawu.edu /~physics/labs/151_lab/inactive/michelson.shtml (839 words)

	Michelson-Morley experiment (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.cs.virginia.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		His design, later known as an interferometer, sent a single source of monochromatic light through a half-silvered mirror that was used to split it into two beams travelling at right angles to one other.
		Michelson had made several measurements with an experimental device in 1881, in which he noticed that the expected shift of 0.04 was not seen, and a smaller shift of about 0.02 was.
		A Michelson interferometer He then combined forces with Edward Morley and spent a considerable amount of time and money creating an improved version with more than enough accuracy to detect the drift.
	michelson-morley-experiment.iqnaut.net.cob-web.org:8888 (2359 words)

	Michelson Interferometer
		An interferometer splits light into two paths, which recombine into the interference pattern shown on a screen.
		Slight differences in the length of the path and in the speed of light along one of the paths creates a change in the interference pattern.
		The apparatus is historically significant as an experiment to determine whether the speed of light depended on the direction of the rotation of the earth.
	www.exploratorium.edu /cmp/exhibits/m/michelson.html (79 words)

	The Michelson Interferometer (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.cs.virginia.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		Using a Michelson interferometer, you can detect minute changes, for example in the temperature or composition of the atmosphere in one of the arms, the other one serving as a reference.
		The Michelson interferometer of this practical is built from standard optical and optomechanical components on an optical breadboard (60 cm x 90 cm).
		The students build a fully functional Fourier transform spectrometer based on the Michelson interferometer: A light source is coupled into the interferometer and its interference signal is monitored while the length of one arm of the interferometer is varied using a motorized translation stage.
	www.monos.leidenuniv.nl.cob-web.org:8888 /students/michelson.htm (549 words)

	Brainflux: Michelson Morley
		In this interferometer, you shoot a beam of light at a beam splitter.
		If the interferometer is moving through the aether, the light that is going in the direction of motion takes longer to get to the detector.
		They thought that by rotating the whole interferometer, one arm would go from being in the direction of motion to being perpendicular to it and the light traveling down this arm would at first have a longer distance to travel and then a shorter distance.
	brainflux.org /Physics/Special_Relativity/Michelson_Morley (842 words)

	Michelson interferometer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The Michelson interferometer is the most common configuration for optical interferometry and was invented by Albert Abraham Michelson.
		Michelson, along with Edward Morley, used this interferometer for the famous Michelson-Morley experiment in which this interferometer was used to prove the non-existence of the luminiferous aether.
		The Michelson Interferometer has been used for the detection of gravitational waves, as a tunable narrow band filter, and as the core of Fourier transform spectroscopy.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Michelson_interferometer (462 words)

	Interferometry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Interferometers are perhaps even more widely used in integrated optical circuits, in the form of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, in which light interferes between two branches of a waveguide that are (typically) externally modulated to vary their relative phase.
		It is often said that an interferometer achieves the effect of a telescope the size of the distance between the apertures; this is only true in the limited sense of angular resolution.
		The VLT Interferometer is expected to produce its first images using aperture synthesis soon, followed by other interferometers such as the CHARA array and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer which may consist of up to 10 optical telescopes.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Interferometer (2422 words)

	SPACE.com -- Interferometry 101: How light is combined from multiple telescopes
		The terms "interferometry'' and "interferometer'' are both derived from the word interference.
		One well-known basic design for an interferometer is the Michelson interferometer, invented by the American physicist, Albert Michelson (1853-1931), famous for the Michelson-Morely Experiment which supports the Theory of Relativity by Einstein.
		Basically, in the Michelson interferometer, one is looking "down'' along the axis of two combined beams towards the light source.
	www.space.com /scienceastronomy/astronomy/interferometry_101.html (1257 words)

	Spectroscopy Using the Michelson Interferometer
		The michelson Interferometer uses a beam splitter to split an input wave into two waves which are reflected and combined again so that an interference pattern of minimum and maximum intensities is observable.
		The moving mirror on the interferometer is driven at a constant rate by the motor shown.
		We know that the frequency of the constructive and destructive interference of the waves of light emitted from the Michelson Interferometer is related to the wavelength of the light and the rate at which the path distance of one of the waves changes (the velocity with which the mirror moves).
	webphysics.davidson.edu /alumni/BeKinneman/spec/report.htm (1720 words)

	Michelson Interferometer (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		The Michelson interferometer produces interference fringes by splitting a beam of monochromatic light so that one beam strikes a fixed mirror and the other a movable mirror.
		Precise distance measurements can be made with the Michelson interferometer by moving the mirror and counting the interference fringes which move by a reference point.
		The distance d associated with m fringes is
	hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu /hbase/phyopt/michel.html (72 words)

	The Optics Project - Modules - Interference - Theory - Michelson Interferometer (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		It travels from the beam splitter through the compensator plate to the "tilt" mirror of the interferometer.
		(In most Michelson interferometers it can be tilted with respect to two orthogonal axes.) The beam then reflects from the tilt mirror and travels back through the compensator plate to the beam splitter.
		We are interested in the reflected beam, which travels to the observation screen and interferes there with the beam that has traveled in the other arm of the interferometer.
	webtop.msstate.edu /top/mod_int_the_mic.html (406 words)

	The Overlooked Phenomena in the Michelson-Morley Experiment
		We show that Michelson and Morley used an over simplified description and failed to notice that their calculation is not compatible with their own hypothesis that light is traveling at a constant velocity in all frames.
		Figure 4 shows the moving interferometer and the wavefront as seen from the rest frame, at time t=0, at the instant light, emitted earlier, reaches the mirror M of the interferometer.
		Figure 5 shows the moving interferometer and the wavefront as seen from the rest frame, at time t=0, at the instant light, emitted previously at (t-1), reaches the mirror M of the interferometer.
	www.newtonphysics.on.ca /michelson/michelson.html (6688 words)

	Michelson
		There are two things we want to accomplish with the interferometer; measure the wavelength of light (in this case the laser) and secondly determine the effect of a gas in the line of sight.
		To understand the operation and use of the Michelson Interferometer.
		For your information, the interferometer mirrors are flat to within 1/4 wavelength and are coated on one side for 80% reflectance and 20% transmission.
	www.stkate.edu /physics/phys112/curric/michelson.html (491 words)

	Title: Real Fringes in the Michelson Interferometer
		The Michelson interferometer is able to make precise wavelength measurements, measure very small thicknesses and thicknesses, and the study of spectral lines.
		The importance of understanding real fringes in the Michelson comes from needing to know if the image is real or virtual when making measurements.
		Young’s particular experiment belongs in the first class of interferometers discussed earlier where wavefronts are split.
	www.u.arizona.edu /~mas13/draft4.310.htm (1137 words)

	Michelson Interferometers from LightMachinery
		The Calcium Fluoride spacer is designed to match the thermal expansion of the solid arm of the michelson and to transfer a minimum amount of stress to the end plate.
		Another monolithic Michelson Interferometer in progress with a waveplate cemeted on the far side of the cube.
		Assembly of a Michelson Interferometer with polarizers and waveplates
	www.lightmachinery.com /michelson-interferometers.html (253 words)

	Michelson interferometer (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		The Michelson interferometer was the crucial instrument for proving the non-existence of the aether.
		The light was split in half by using a piece of glass that was coated with silver, but only enough to reflect half the light.
		When Michelson and Morley repeated the experiment 6 months later when Earth's velocity would have changed substantially due to Earth's revolution about the sun, again there was no evidence of a moving ether.
	www.pa.msu.edu /courses/2000spring/PHY232/lectures/relativity/interferometer.html (279 words)

	Michelson-Morley: Detecting the Ether Wind Experiment
		As a result of Michelson's efforts in 1879, the speed of light was known to be 186,350 miles per second.
		Detecting the motion of the Earth through the ether wind was the next challenge Michelson set himself after his triumph in measuring the speed of light so accurately.
		The scheme of the experiment is as follows: a pulse of light is directed at an angle of 45 degrees at a half-silvered, half transparent mirror, so that half the pulse goes on through the glass, half is reflected.
	www.juliantrubin.com /bigten/michelsonmorley.html (890 words)

	Michelson Interferometer (via CobWeb/3.1 planetlab2.cs.virginia.edu) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
		To do so, they devised the interferometer which would allow them to observe the effect of the motion of the medium upon the propagation of light.
		Hence, interferometry was born around the famous "null outcome" experiment performed by Michelson and Morley in the late nineteenth century.
		Thus, when adjusting the moveable mirror on the Michelson interferometer, one must be precise when trying to find interference patterns of light comprised of a large difference in wavelengths, such as white light.
	www.phy.davidson.edu.cob-web.org:8888 /StuHome/cabell_f/diffractionfinal/pages/Michelson.htm (1784 words)

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