APPENDIX

FRINGE SHIFT VERSUS ROTATION OF THE MICHELSON-MORLEY APPARATUS

IF THE Michelson-Morley apparatus is assumed to have equal arms (ll = l2 = l) and

to be drifting through the ether at a speed u c, a simple expression can be deduced
for the fringe shift as a function of rotational position of the apparatus. Imagine that
the ether is at rest in Figure A.I and that the interferometer is moving upward as
indicated by the vector u. Let t~ be the time it takes light to get from the half-silvered
mirror P to the reflecting mirror MI. This light suffers a horizontal displacement
l cos () and a vertical displacement l sin 0
ut~, because during its transit the mirror
M 1 has moved upward a distance ut~. Since the distance traveled through the ether is
also ct~, one can write

( ct~ ) 2

from which

t~ =

(l cos ()) 2

c2

u2

(l sin 0

[u sin

(J

(c 2

ut~) 2

u 2 cos"

(J)~]

Similarly let t~' be the time required for this light to return from M 1 to P. During
transit it undergoes a horizontal displacement l cos () and a vertical displacement
l sin () - ut~', because the half-silvered mirror P has moved upward a distance ut~/.

Thus

(ct~') 2

and

t"1

= (l cos 8) 2
=

c2 _ u 2

(l sin

[-u sin

(J

(J -

ut~') 2

(c 2

u 2 cos"

8)~]

Therefore the round-trip time is

(A.I)
To find the time for light to travel from P to M 2 and back to P, one need only replace
o by 8 - 1r /2 in the above expression and obtain
(A.2)

The difference in phase of the two light components reaching the viewing telescope
is therefore

(A.3)

514 Fringe Shift versus Rotation of the Michelson-Morley Apparatus

APPENDIX

A----

II

----------\
u

FIGURE

A.I

Rotation of the Jfichelson-JIorley apparatus.

The number of fringes shifted, n, can be found by dividing this phase difference by 27r.
If u c, the radicals can be expanded to give

l u2
- - 2 cos 28

Xc

and thus the fringe shifting occurs as a second harmonic of the rotational angle

(A.4)

e.