The response of Michelson interferometers to weak plane gravitational waves is computed at one order of accuracy beyond the eikonal equation. The modulation of the electromagnetic field amplitude and polarisation are taken into account by solving the transport equations of geometrical optics with boundary conditions adapted to laser interferometry. Considering both DC and balanced homodyne readout schemes, explicit formulae for the interferometer output signals are derived. These signals comprise perturbations of the optical path length, frequency and amplitude, and are shown to be insensitive to polarisation perturbations.

Experimental research has become complex and thus a challenge to science education. Only very few students can typically be trained on advanced scientific equipment. It is therefore important to find new tools that allow all students to acquire laboratory skills individually and independent of where they are located. In a design-based research process we have investigated the feasibility of using a virtual laboratory as a photo-realistic and scientifically valid representation of advanced scientific infrastructure to teach modern experimental science, here, molecular quantum optics. We found a concept based on three educational principles that allows undergraduate students to become acquainted with procedures and concepts of a modern research field. We find a significant increase in student understanding using our Simulated Interactive Research Experiment (SiReX), by evaluating the learning outcomes with semi-structured interviews in a pre/post design. This suggests that this concept of an educational tool can be generalized to disseminate findings in other fields.

The response of optical fibre modes to plane gravitational waves (GW’s) of low frequency is computed. By solving perturbatively the Maxwell equations for step-index optical fibres in a GW background and implementing appropriate boundary conditions to describe single-mode fibres, explicit formulae for the perturbations of the phase and the polarisation of the fibre modes are obtained.

We analyse the influence of Earth’s rotation on the propagation of light in optical media. This is done using both geometrical optics and a perturbative calculation based on Maxwell’s equations in rotating coordinates in flat spacetime. Considering light propagation in cylindrical step-index waveguides in particular, the first order correction to electromagnetic modes is computed. The calculation shows that Earth’s spin causes a weak mode coupling, giving rise to sidebands, whose amplitudes are computed as well. The correction to the dispersion relation derived here allows to assess the anisotropy of light propagation due to Earth’s rotation. The linearisation of this result is found to agree numerically with a simple formula derived from geometrical optics.