Analogue Special and General Relativity by Optical Multilayer Thin Films: The Rindler Space Case

TL;DR

This paper explores how multilayer optical films can serve as analogues for curved spacetime in general relativity, proposing experimental setups to simulate Lorentz transformations and Rindler space.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using multilayer optical films to simulate aspects of special and general relativity, including Lorentz transformations and Rindler space.

Findings

Multilayer films can mimic Lorentzian transformations.

A simple experimental setup for testing special relativity is proposed.

An analogy between Rindler space and multilayer films is established.

Abstract

In this paper, to obtain an analogy between the curved spaces and the linear optics, we expand the idea of Ref.[1, 2] to the multilayer films. We investigate efects of thickness and index of refraction of the films on the Lorentzian transformations. In addition, by using the multilayer films, we suggest very simple experimental set-up which can serve as an analogue computer for testing special relativity. Finally, we draw an analogy between the Rindler space, as an example of the curved spaces, and a suitable multilayer film.