Abstract
An elementary discussion is given regarding the momentum associated with a photon in a dispersive medium. The results of the Jones-Richards (1954) and the Jones-Leslie (1978) experiments are taken to confirm that, if the momentum of the photon in vacuo is p , the total momentum associated with the same photon in a dispersive medium of phase refractive index n ϕ is n ϕ p (as the Minkowski energy-momentum tensor would imply). It is then argued that a portion p/ng of this momentum may be regarded as ‘electromagnetic’ ( pace the Abraham tensor) and the remainder n ϕ p (1 — 1/ n ϕ n g ) as ‘mechanical’ and bodily present in the medium, where n ϕ is the ‘group refractive index’. This leads to plausible results for an artificial dielectric where n ϕ n g = 1, and suggests an element of reciprocity between the ‘drag’ of light on the medium through which it is passing and the ‘aether drag ’ of a moving medium on light, since the drag coefficient (1 — 1/ n ϕ n g )enters into both cases.
Published Version
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