Abstract
Radiation pressure measurements on mirrors submerged in dielectric liquids have consistently shown an effective Minkowski momentum for the photons within the liquid. Using an exact theoretical calculation based on Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz law of force, we demonstrate that this result is a consequence of the fact that conventional mirrors impart, upon reflection, a 180° phase shift to the incident beam of light. If the mirror is designed to impart a different phase, then the effective momentum will turn out to be anywhere between the two extremes of the Minkowski and Abraham momenta. Since all values in the range between these two extremes are equally likely to be found in experiments, we argue that the photon momentum inside a dielectric host has the arithmetic mean value of the Abraham and Minkowski momenta.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2677-2682 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Optics Express |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 5 2007 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Cite this
Radiation pressure on submerged mirrors : Implications for the momentum of light in dielectric media. / Mansuripur, Masud.
In: Optics Express, Vol. 15, No. 5, 05.03.2007, p. 2677-2682.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Radiation pressure on submerged mirrors
T2 - Implications for the momentum of light in dielectric media
AU - Mansuripur, Masud
PY - 2007/3/5
Y1 - 2007/3/5
N2 - Radiation pressure measurements on mirrors submerged in dielectric liquids have consistently shown an effective Minkowski momentum for the photons within the liquid. Using an exact theoretical calculation based on Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz law of force, we demonstrate that this result is a consequence of the fact that conventional mirrors impart, upon reflection, a 180° phase shift to the incident beam of light. If the mirror is designed to impart a different phase, then the effective momentum will turn out to be anywhere between the two extremes of the Minkowski and Abraham momenta. Since all values in the range between these two extremes are equally likely to be found in experiments, we argue that the photon momentum inside a dielectric host has the arithmetic mean value of the Abraham and Minkowski momenta.
AB - Radiation pressure measurements on mirrors submerged in dielectric liquids have consistently shown an effective Minkowski momentum for the photons within the liquid. Using an exact theoretical calculation based on Maxwell's equations and the Lorentz law of force, we demonstrate that this result is a consequence of the fact that conventional mirrors impart, upon reflection, a 180° phase shift to the incident beam of light. If the mirror is designed to impart a different phase, then the effective momentum will turn out to be anywhere between the two extremes of the Minkowski and Abraham momenta. Since all values in the range between these two extremes are equally likely to be found in experiments, we argue that the photon momentum inside a dielectric host has the arithmetic mean value of the Abraham and Minkowski momenta.
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U2 - 10.1364/OE.15.002677
DO - 10.1364/OE.15.002677
M3 - Article
VL - 15
SP - 2677
EP - 2682
JO - Optics Express
JF - Optics Express
SN - 1094-4087
IS - 5
ER -