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Frame dragging with optical vortices

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Abstract

General Relativistic calculations in the linear regime have been made for electromagnetic beams of radiation known as optical vortices. These exotic beams of light carry a physical quantity known as optical orbital angular momentum. It is found that when a massive spinning neutral particle is placed along the optical axis, a phenomenon known as inertial frame dragging occurs. Our results are compared with those found previously for a ring laser and an order of magnitude estimate of the laser intensity needed for a precession frequency of 1 Hz is given for these “steady” beams of light.

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  1. Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-4242, USA

    J. Strohaber

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  1. J. Strohaber
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Strohaber, J. Frame dragging with optical vortices. Gen Relativ Gravit 45, 2457–2465 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10714-013-1596-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10714-013-1596-8

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