Gravitational holonomy in Sagnac interferometry
Abstract
A bstract We analyze the influence of gravitational waves on a Sagnac interferometer formed by the interference of two counter-propagating beams traversing a closed spatial loop. In addition to the well-known Sagnac phase shift, we identify an additional contribution originating from a relative rotation in the polarization vectors. We formulate this effect as a gravitational holonomy associated to the internal Lorentz group. The magnitude of both effects is computed due to gravitational waves generated by a localized source far from the detector, at leading order in the inverse distance. For freely falling observers, the phase shift is zero and the polarization rotation becomes the dominant effect.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Geophysics and Sensor Technology
Relativity and Gravitational Theory
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of High Energy Physics
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Volume
- 2026
- Issue
- 5
- Publication date
- 6 May 2026
- Language
- EN