On the Possibility of Measuring the Abraham Force using Whispering Gallery Modes

Abstract

Critical experimental tests of the time-dependent Abraham force in phenomenological electrodynamics are scarce. In this paper we analyze the possibility of making use of intensity-modulated whispering gallery modes in a microresonator for this purpose. Systems of this kind appear attractive, as the strong concentration of electromagnetic fields near the rim of the resonator serves to enhance the Abraham torque exerted by the field. We analyze mainly spherical resonators, although as an introductory step we consider also the cylinder geometry. The order of magnitude of the Abraham torques are estimated by inserting reasonable values for the various input parameters. As expected, the predicted torques turn out to be very small, although probably not beyond any reach experimentally. Our main idea is essentially a generalization of the method used by G. B. Walker et al. [Can. J. Phys. 53, 2577] for low-frequency fields, to the optical case.

6 pages, no figures. Minor typos corrected, acknowledgment added. To appear in Phys. Rev. A

References in corpus (8)

• Test of the Equivalence Principle Using a Rotating Torsion Balance
• Momentum of an electromagnetic wave in dielectric media
• Photon recoil momentum in dispersive media
• Observation of a push force on the end face of a nm fiber taper exerted by outgoing light
• Test of Cosmic Spatial Isotropy for Polarized Electrons Using a Rotatable Torsion Balance
• Comment on "Observation of a Push Force on the End Face of a Nanometer Silica Filament Exerted by Outgoing Light" [PRL 101, 243601 (2008)]
• Transverse radiation force in a tailored optical fiber
• Comment on "Casimir Force Acting on Magnetostatic Bodies Embedded in Media"

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Possible sorting mechanism for microparticles in an evanescent field
• Analysis of Recent Interpretations of the Abraham-Minkowski Problem
• Minkowski Momentum Resulting from a Vacuum-Medium Mapping Procedure, and a Brief Review of Minkowski Momentum Experiments
• First principles approach to the Abraham-Minkowski controversy for the momentum of light in general linear non-dispersive media
• Radiation Forces and the Abraham-Minkowski Problem
• Detection of the Abraham force with a succession of short optical pulses
• Optomechanical Measurement of the Abraham Force in an Adiabatic Liquid Core Optical Fiber Waveguide
• Self-consistent theory for a plane wave in a moving medium and light-momentum criterion
• Electromagnetic Momentum Conservation in media
• Quantitative in situ measurement of optical force along a strand of cleaved silica optical fiber induced by the light guided therewithin
• Is the Abraham electromagnetic force physical?
• Proposal to repeat the Abraham force experiment using giant permittivity materials
• Zitterbewegung, momentum and spin dynamics of electromagnetic waves in linear dielectric medium