Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 243601 (2008) [4 pages]Observation of a Push Force on the End Face of a Nanometer Silica Filament Exerted by Outgoing Light
See accompanying Physics Focus There are two different proposals for the momentum of light in a transparent dielectric of refractive index n: Minkowski’s version nE/c and Abraham’s version E/(nc), where E and c are the energy and vacuum speed of light, respectively. Despite many tests and debates over nearly a century, momentum of light in a transparent dielectric remains controversial. In this Letter, we report a direct observation of the inward push force on the free end face of a nanometer silica filament exerted by the outgoing light. Our results suggest that Abraham’s momentum is correct. © 2008 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.243601
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.243601
PACS:
42.50.Wk, 03.50.De
See AlsoComment: Iver Brevik, Comment on “Observation of a Push Force on the End Face of a Nanometer Silica Filament Exerted by Outgoing Light”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 219301 (2009). Comment: Masud Mansuripur, Comment on “Observation of a Push Force on the End Face of a Nanometer Silica Filament Exerted by Outgoing Light”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 019301 (2009). |
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