In: Physics
In recent times the principle of the Michelson intereferometer is being used in an attempt to detect gravitational waves (LIGO experiment). A successful measurement requires an accuracy of 10-16cm. Assuming t hat the light is reflected only once in each arm and the wavelength of the laser is 632.8 nm, calculate the relative change of the intensity in the center of the image. (for simplicity assume that the intensity is zero for minimum and 1 for maximum of the interference patterns and that the alignment is such that intensity in the center of the screen is at 0.5).