- #1
crick
- 43
- 4
I don't uderstand how, using special relativity theory (time dilatation and length contraction), one can explain why in the Michelson interferometer there is no delay between the two rays in the reference frame where the interferometer is moving. Consider the picture ##2.##
Setting ##ab_1=ac=L## and ##\gamma=\frac{1}{\sqrt{1-\frac{v^2}{c^2}}}## (##v## is the velocity of the interferometer), the time taken for path ##aba_1## should be
$$t_1=\frac{2L}{c}\gamma$$For the other ray the path length should be ##aca## (but it's contracted), therefore
$$t_2=\frac{2L}{c}\frac{1}{\gamma}$$How can possibly be ##t_1=t_2##?
$$t_1=\frac{2L}{c}\gamma$$For the other ray the path length should be ##aca## (but it's contracted), therefore
$$t_2=\frac{2L}{c}\frac{1}{\gamma}$$How can possibly be ##t_1=t_2##?