8 May 2000

Physics Letters A 269 Ž2000. 214–217

www.elsevier.nlrlocaterpla

Weak gravitational field of the electromagnetic radiation

in a ring laser
Ronald L. Mallett
Department of Physics, 2152 Hillside Road and UniÕersity of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
Received 19 January 2000; accepted 3 April 2000
Communicated by P.R. Holland

Abstract

The gravitational field due to the circulating flow of electromagnetic radiation of a unidirectional ring laser is found by
solving the linearized Einstein field equations at any interior point of the laser ring. The general relativistic spin equations
are then used to study the behavior of a massive spinning neutral particle at the center of the ring laser. It is found that the
particle exhibits the phenomenon known as inertial frame-dragging. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PACS: 04.25.Nx; 42.55.-f

In classical Newtonian mechanics matter is the
sole generator of the gravitational field. One of the
interesting consequences of general relativity is the
prediction that light is also a source of gravity. The
gravitational field of a noncirculating beam of light
was studied many years ago by Tolman w1x. This was
done by using the weak field approximation to Ein-
stein’s gravitational field equations. Tolman then
determined the acceleration of a stationary particle in
the neighborhood of the light beam. He found that
the acceleration experienced by the particle was twice
as great as that expected on the basis of Newtonian
theory for the gravitational field of a massive rod of
similar length and density. This would seem to imply
E-mail address: rlmallett@aol.com ŽR.L. Mallett..
that, in some ways, light may be even more effective
than matter in generating a gravitational field. More
recently, Scully w2x has given a general relativistic
treatment of the gravitational interaction between
two parallel laser beams in the weak field approxi-
mation.
The present work is a generalization of these
earlier investigations to the gravitational field pro-
duced by a circulating flow of electromagnetic radia-
tion. Recent advances in laser technology have pro-
vided a means of producing such a flow using a ring
laser w3x. This device is capable of generating an
intense, coherent, and continuously circulating beam
of light. In this letter,the gravitational field at any
interior point of a ring laser is found by solving the
linearized Einstein field equations. The general rela-
tivistic spin equations are then used to study the
behavior of a massive spinning neutral particle at the
center of the laser ring. It is shown that such a

0375-9601r00r$ - see front matter q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 3 7 5 - 9 6 0 1 Ž 0 0 . 0 0 2 6 0 - 7
 R.L. Mallettr Physics Letters A 269 (2000) 214–217 215

particle manifests the behavior known as inertial

frame-dragging 1.
The usual linearized Einstein gravitational field
equations 2 , with the Hilbert gauge condition
Em Ž h mn y 12 h mn h . s 0, have the form
El E l Ž h mn y 12 h mn h . s ykt mn Ž 1.
where h mn is the gravitational field tensor, t mn is
the energy-momentum tensor, h s hss with the
Lorentz metric hmn s Ž 1,y 1 ,y 1 ,y 1 . . The
energy-momentum tensor for the electromagnetic
field is given by
t mn s y 41p Ž f m a fany 14 h mn f a b fa b . Ž 2.
where f mn is the Maxwell field tensor. Since the
trace of Eq. Ž2. is t s tmm s 0 then Eq. Ž1., which
can be rewritten as El E l h mn s yk Ž t mn y 12 h mnt . ,
reduces to
El E l h mn s ykt mn Ž 3.
A sketch of the stationary Ži.e. nonrotating. ring
laser configuration to be considered is shown in Fig.
1. A laser at L generates a beam that enters the ring Fig. 1. A sketch of the ring laser geometry.
through a half-silvered mirror at A. The beam is then
reflected from the corner mirrors at B, C, and D. The
length of each side of the ring is a. The following
results are independent of the state of polarization of xy plane, the Maxwell field tensor components for
the light beam and depend only on the energy den- the beam are given by
sity and direction of the radiation flow. Conse- 30
fŽ1. 30
s fŽ2. 30
s fŽ3. s f30
Ž 4 . s Ez Ž 4.
quently, there is no loss in generality in choosing a
13 13 32 32
specific polarization state. The state chosen here is fŽ1. s yfŽ3. s yB y , fŽ2. s yfŽ4. s Bx Ž 5.
one that is polarized perpendicular to the plane of the
with all other f Ž n . mn s 0 and where indices in paren-
ring laser. Taking the plane of the ring to lie in the
theses Ž n.; n s 1, . . . ,4 indicate the particular beam
path in Fig. 1. For paths Ž1., Ž3. and Ž2., Ž4. the time
averaged energy density of the radiation is given,
1
The post Newtonian phenomenon known as inertial frame- respectively, by
dragging is usually associated with the gravitational field gener-
ated by rotating matter. For example, it is predicted that a satellite r s 161p Ž Ez2 q B y2 . , r s 161p Ž Ez2 q B x2 . .
in a polar orbit around the earth should be dragged around by the
gravitational field created by the earth’s rotation. The frame-drag- Using Eqs. Ž4. and Ž5. in Eq. Ž2. yields the non-
ging effect should also be displayed in the precession of a vanishing time averaged energy-momentum tensor
gyroscope falling freely in the gravitational field of the rotating components
earth. See, for example, w4x. This reference combines a detailed 00 11
discussion of inertial frame-dragging produced by the gravita- t Ž1. s t Ž1. s t01
Ž1. s r Ž 6.
tional field of rotating matter with a comprehensive survey of 00 22
many of the proposed experiments to test this effect. t Ž2. s t Ž2. s t02
Ž 2. s r Ž 7.
2
See, for example, w5x. In the present Letter, hmn is chosen to 00 11
be dimensionless so that k s8p G c 4 with gravitational constant
t Ž3. s t Ž3. s yt01
Ž 3. s r Ž 8.
G s 6.67=10y1 1 m3 kgy1 sy2 and speed of light c s 3=
10 8 mrs.
t00 22 02
Ž 4 . s t Ž4. s yt Ž4. s r Ž 9.
216 R.L. Mallettr Physics Letters A 269 (2000) 214–217

The solution of the linearized Einstein field equa-

a y 12
tions, Eq. Ž3., for the ring configuration in Fig. 1 is X 2 2
F Ž2. s H0 dy Ž x y a . q Ž y y yX . q z 2
given by
4 °yy q a q Ž y y a. q Ž x y a. q z ¶
2 2 2
1
2

h mn Ž x . s yk Ý Hd 3 xX GŽ n . Ž x , xX . t Žmnn. Ž xX . Ž 10. s ln~ •

ns1 ¢ yy q Ž x y a. q y q z ß 2 2 2
1
2

with the Green functions Ž 21 .

dŽ xX2 . dŽ xX3 .
GŽ1. Ž x , xX . s Ž 11 . a
X 2 2
y 12
4p x y x X
F Ž3. s H0 dx Ž x y xX . q Ž y y a . q z 2

X
d Ž xX1 y a . d Ž xX3 . °yx q a q Ž x y a. q Ž y y a. q z ¶
2 2 2
1
2
GŽ2. Ž x , x . s Ž 12 .
4p x y x X
s ln~ •
¢ yx q x q Ž y y a. q z 2 ß 2 2
1
2

dŽ xX2 y a . dŽ xX3 .
GŽ3. Ž x , xX . s X Ž 13 . Ž 22 .
4p x y x

d Ž xX1 . d Ž xX3 . a
X 2
y 12
X
GŽ 4 . Ž x , x . s Ž 14 . FŽ 4 . s H0 dy x 2 q Ž y y yX . q z 2
4p x y x X

Using Eqs. Ž6. – Ž9. and Eq. Ž11. – Ž14. in Eq. Ž10. °yy q a q Ž y y a. q x q z ¶• 2 2 2
1
2

s ln~
yields the non-vanishing gravitational field compo-
nents
¢ yy q Ž x q y q z . ß 2 2 2
1
2

Ž 23 .
00
kr
h sy FŽ 1 . qF Ž2.qF Ž3.qF Ž4. Ž 15 . Eqs. Ž15. – Ž19. together with Eqs. Ž20. – Ž23. pro-
4p
vide the complete metric for the gravitational field at
kr any interior point of the ring laser.
h 01 s y FŽ 1 . yF Ž3. Ž 16 . The general relativistic spin equations for a neu-
4p
tral massive spinning particle, in the weak field and
kr slow motion approximation, are given by w6x
h 02 s y FŽ 2 . yF Ž4. Ž 17 .
4p dSi
kr y c Gi0k Sk q Gi00 S j v j y Gi lk Skv l
11 dt
h sy FŽ 1 . qF Ž3. Ž 18 .
4p q cy1Gi k0 v k v j S j s 0 Ž 24 .
kr Consider the case of a stationary neutral massive
h 22 s y FŽ 2 . qF Ž4. Ž 19 .
4p spinning particle at the center of the ring laser in Fig.
1. Substituting Eqs. Ž15. – Ž23. in Eq. Ž24., with
where hmn s hm a hnb h ab , and evaluating the general result
at point P in the center, Ž 2a , 2a ,0 . , of the laser ring,
a y 12 yields the simple result
X 2
F Ž1. s H0 dx Ž x y xX . q y 2 q z 2
dS
s V˙ = S Ž 25 .
°yx q a q Ž x y a. q y q z ¶• 2 2 2
1
2 dt
s ln~ where V˙ s Ž 0,0,'2 ck rrp a . . Eq. Ž25. has exactly
¢ yx q Ž x q y q z . ß 2 2 2
1
2
the form Žsee footnote 1. required for general rela-
Ž 20 . tivistic gravitational frame-dragging. Thus, Eq. Ž25.
shows that a stationary neutral massive spinning
 R.L. Mallettr Physics Letters A 269 (2000) 214–217
particle at the center of the ring laser in Fig. 1 will
tend to precess in a counterclockwise direction with
a rate of precession given by
8'2 Gr
V̇ s Ž 26 .
ac 3
with radiation linear density r and beam length a. It
is straightforward to show that reversing the direc-
tion of the radiation flow in the laser ring of Fig. 1
results in a precession of the particle in the opposite
sense.
Acknowledgements
The author thanks M.P. Silverman and G.A. Pe-
terson for a number of useful comments. He also
217
wishes to thank L.R. Hunter, M. Romalis, W.W.
Smith and G.N. Gibson for helpful conversations.
References
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Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1934, p. 272.
w2x M.O. Scully, Phys. Rev. D 19 Ž1979. 3585.
w3x G.R. Fowles, Introduction to Modern Optics, Dover Publica-
tions, New York, 1989, p. 290.
w4x I. Ciufolini, J.A. Wheeler, Gravitation and Inertia, Princeton
Univ. Press, Princeton, 1995, Chap. 6.
w5x H.C. Ohanian, R. Ruffini, Gravitation and Spacetime, W.W.
Norton, New York, 2nd ed., Chap. 3.
w6x A.K. Raychaudhuri, S. Banerji, A. Banerjee, General Relativ-
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1992, p. 66.