Radiative transfer through a flowing refractive medium

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1975 · Astrophys. J., v. 202, no. 2, pp. 454-464

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/153995· OSTI ID:4057916

Anderson, J L; Spiegel, E A

The propagation of photons in a nondispersive refractive medium with arbitrary velocity and gravity fields is discussed. Photons move along the geodesics associated with the optical metric given by Gordon in the limit where geometrical optics applies. The known properties of geodesics then simplify the task of finding the world lines of photons in a variety of problems. The formalism for describing photon propagation, summarized here, makes it possible to derive a transfer equation for a flowing refractive medium which is formally identical to the relativistic equation of radiative transfer. However, the theory is phenomenological in that it presumes that the index of refraction is specified. (AIP)

• Research Organization: Physics Department, Stevens Institute of Technology
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• NSA Number: NSA-33-024016
• OSTI ID: 4057916
• Journal Information: Astrophys. J., v. 202, no. 2, pp. 454-464, Journal Name: Astrophys. J., v. 202, no. 2, pp. 454-464; ISSN ASJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

*PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES-- RADIOWAVE RADIATION
*STELLAR ATMOSPHERES-- RADIOWAVE RADIATION
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FLUID FLOW
GEODESY
GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS
N56200* --Physics (Astrophysics & Cosmology)--Stars
N56700 --Physics (Astrophysics & Cosmology)--Planetary Phenomena
PHOTONS
REFRACTION