The formula for the frequency shift of a plane-polarized light wave reflected from a uniformly moving mirror is derived directly from the constant light speed postulate and the basic principles of wave optics. Unlike the original derivation by Einstein, our derivation does not involve Lorentz transformations. As such, it lies within the scope of a first course in special relativity.
We propose and substantiate experimentally the cascaded rotational Doppler effect for interactions of spinning objects with light carrying angular momentum. Based on the law of parity conservation for electromagnetic interactions, we reveal that the frequency shift can be doubled through cascading two rotational Doppler processes which are mirror-imaged to each other. This effect is further experimentally verified with a rotating half-wave plate, and the mirror-imaging process is achieved by reflecting the frequency-shifted circularly polarized wave upon a mirror with a quarter-wave plate in f…
Phenomena of wave propagation in dynamically varying structures have reemerged as the temporal variations of the medium's properties can extend the possibilities for electromagnetic wave manipulation. While the dynamical change of the electromagnetic medium's properties is a difficult task, the movement of scatterers is not. In this paper, we analyze the electromagnetic fields trapped inside two smoothly moving mirrors. We employ the method of characteristics and take into account the relativistic phenomena to show that the temporally and spatially local Doppler effects can filter and amplify …
Doppler harmonic generation of a high-power laser on a relativistic plasma mirror is a promising path to produce bright attosecond light bursts. Yet, a major challenge has been to find a way to generate isolated attosecond pulses, better suited to timed-resolved experiments, rather than trains of pulses. A promising technique is the attosecond lighthouse effect, which consists in imprinting different propagation directions to successive attosecond pulses of the train, and then spatially filtering one pulse in the far field. However, in the relativistic regime, plasma mirrors get curved by the …
The measurement of extremely small displacements is of utmost importance, both for fundamental studies [1-4], and practical applications [5-7]. One way to estimate a small displacement is to measure the Doppler shift generated in light reflected off an object moving with a known periodic frequency. This remote sensing technique converts a displacement measurement into a frequency measurement, and has been considerably successful [8-14]. The displacement sensitivity of this technique is limited by the Doppler frequency noise floor and by the velocity of the moving object. Other primary limitati…
Doppler-free spectroscopy using two counter-propagating dual-frequency laser beams in alkali vapor cells has been demonstrated recently, providing the detection of high-contrast sign-reversed natural-linewidth sub-Doppler resonances. However, to date, only a qualitative theory based on a simplified $Λ$-scheme model has been reported to explain underlying physics of this phenomenon. In this work, we develop a general and extended theoretical model of dual-frequency sub-Doppler spectroscopy (DF SDS) for Cs D1 line. The latter considers the real atomic energy structure, main relaxation processes …
The advent of Petawatt-class laser systems allows generating electro-magnetic fields of unprecedented strength in a controlled environment, driving increasingly more efforts to probe yet unobserved processes through their interaction with the quantum vacuum. Still, the lowest intensity scale governing these effects lies orders of magnitude beyond foreseen capabilities, so that such endeavor is expected to remain extremely challenging. In recent years, however, plasma mirrors have emerged as a promising bridge across this gap, by enabling the conversion of intense infrared laser pulses into coh…
The effect of gravity and proper acceleration on the frequency spectrum of an optical resonator - both rigid or deformable - is considered in the framework of general relativity. The optical resonator is modeled either as a rod of matter connecting two mirrors or as a dielectric rod whose ends function as mirrors. Explicit expressions for the frequency spectrum are derived for the case that it is only perturbed slightly. For a deformable resonator, the perturbation of the frequency spectrum depends on the speed of sound in the rod supporting the mirrors. A connection is found to a relativistic…
