Round 8: Tossup 14

Chains of these devices are used as multiplexers and demultiplexers in WDM systems. In one type of these devices, the quantity “pi times the square root of R all over one minus R” defines the finesse. Gyroscopes such as RLGs and FOGs are examples of these devices that operate (10[1])using the Sagnac (“sahn-YAHK”) effect. A type of these devices called an etalon consisting (10[1])of a cavity that filters out waves not in resonance is named for Fabry and Pérot. (10[1])One of these optical devices consisting of a stone slab in a pool of mercury failed to detect (-5[1])a 0.04 fringe shift induced by the Earth’s motion. For 10 points, name these devices that split a beam of light and later recombine them to form patterns, which include one used to disprove the luminiferous aether in the Michelson–Morley experiment. ■END■ (10[1]0[2])

ANSWER: interferometers [accept interferometry; accept Michelson interferometers or Fabry–Pérot interferometers]
<Brandeis A, Physics> | Packet-F_Brandeis-A_Florida-A_Maryland-A_Sheffield-A_WashU-B
= Average correct buzzpoint

Back to tossups