ROTARY AETHER DRAG

Following observations of the transverse linear Fresnel 'aether drag', it was conjectured that there should be a corresponding angular drag on the plane of polarization of a beam of light traversing a medium rotating about an axis parallel to the direction of the beam. To detect the effect a laser polarimeter has been developed with a noise level of about 3 multiplied by 10** minus **8 rad for 1 s response time. The paper describes the polarimeter and the precautions that have to be taken in order to detect the rotational aether drag in a specimen rod of Schott SF 57 glass, 100 mm long and 20 mm diameter, rotating at speeds of the order 6000 rev/min.