On Sep 10, 2009, at 2:17 PM, Harry Veeder wrote:
I still find the sagging beam splitter explanation inconsistent with what is observed. As the beam splitter rotates into and out of the vertical orientation this is when the supposed sagging is nil so the pattern's movement should change direction during this interval. When the beam splitter is oriented horizontally this is when sagging is at a maximum so the pattern should be moving the fastest. Where have I gone wrong? harry
The pattern moves when there is a change in the two path lengths. That movement is maximum when the path length difference *changes* most rapidly, not when one path is at a maximum or minimum length with respect to each other.
Best regards, Horace Heffner http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
