In reply to David Roberson's message of Sat, 10 Dec 2016 01:54:41 -0500: Hi, [snip] >I agree that a phase shift would occur due to normal path length differences. >What I am wondering about is whether or not that basic shift would have an >additional component that depends upon the magnitude of the gravitational mass >contained within the sphere's shell assuming that the path lengths do not vary. > >For example, have a very small mass sphere and use the phase detector to >obtain a reference. Then, greatly increase the mass as you maintain the same >inner volume and hence total reflection path. Compare the phase difference in >case 2 versus case1 when using the unaffected external photon. > >Dave
...now that might be an interesting experiment. You could use two concentric spheres, and fill the space between with water. Unfortunately, I suspect that temperature variations would have a larger effect than that which you are trying to measure, since temperature variations would change the size of the sphere(s), and hence the path length. Try doing the math, and see if you can get a figure for the minimum temperature variation that would be needed to drown out your signal. That should give you an idea of how hard the experiment would be to do. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
