Abstract
GARDNER1 has recently given a new relativistic theory of a rigid body, and Synge2 has applied this theory to the earth considered as a rigid body in rotation. He predicts, on the basis of the Gardner theory, that the fringes in a Michelson interferometer with one arm inclined at 45° to the horizontal should shift on rotating the interferometer about a vertical axis—provided that the interferometer is rigidly attached to the earth. The fringe shift predicted is (E/c D/λ) sin θ, where E is the velocity of earth's rotation, D is the length of the arm of the interferometer and θ is the angle between the projection of the direction of the inclined arm on a horizontal plane and a line pointing north3.
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References
Gardner, G. H. F., Nature, 170, 243 (1952).
Synge, J. L., Nature, 170, 243 (1952) Sci. Proc. Roy. Dublin Soc. 26, 45 (1952).
Synge, J. L. (private communication).
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DITCHBURN, R., HEAVENS, O. Relativistic Theory of a Rigid Body. Nature 170, 705 (1952). https://doi.org/10.1038/170705a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/170705a0
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