English: An indirect confirmation of Fresnel's dragging coefficient was provided by Martin Hoek (1868). In the particular version of the experiment shown here, Hoek used a prism P to disperse light from a slit into a spectrum which passed through a collimator C before entering the apparatus. With the apparatus oriented parallel to the hypothetical aether wind, Hoek expected the light in one circuit to be retarded 7/600 mm with respect to the other. Where this retardation represented an integral number of wavelengths, he expected to see constructive interference; where this retardation represented a half-integral number of wavelengths, he expected to see destructive interference. In the absence of dragging, his expectation was for the observed spectrum to be continuous with the apparatus oriented transversely to the aether wind, and to be banded with the apparatus oriented parallel to the aether wind. His actual experimental results were completely negative.
Source: Derivative work of the Public Domain image File:HoekExperiment1.png by Martin Hoek (1868) uploaded by User:D.H, the Public Domain image File:Linear visible spectrum.svg created by and uploaded by Gringer, and a computer-modified version of File:Linear visible spectrum.svg that I created to demonstrate the interference banding that Hoek expected to see as a result of aether-wind effects.
Author: [[User:Stigmatella aurantiaca]]
Source: Derivative work of the Public Domain image [[:File:HoekExperiment1.png]] by Martin Hoek (1868) uploaded by [[User:D.H]], the Public Domain image [[:File:Linear visible spectrum.svg]] created by and uploa...