A Michelson interferometer splits a beam of light into two paths using a beamsplitter. These paths are then reflected back and recombined, creating an interference pattern. The intensity of this pattern depends on the path difference between the two beams

Superposition of Two Sine Waves: Resultant Intensity at the Michelson Interferometer Detector

Example: Two Sine Waves

Let's consider two sine waves representing the two beams:

Where:

The path difference (Δ) and phase difference (φ) are related by: φ = (2π/λ) * Δ, where λ is the wavelength.

Specific Cases:

The detector output, representing the interference of the two waves, is visualized as an intensity variation. When you digitize the interference pattern of a monochromatic laser in a Michelson interferometer with a mirror moving at a constant velocity, here's what you can infer:

Inference of the Sine Wave (recorded at the detector):

So far, we've focused on one frequency of light. In the next section, we'll see how the interferometer reacts to light with a mix of frequencies