Two-line frequency separation

ID: past-exam-of-the-optics-and-electrodynamics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/section-b/b2/two-line-frequency-separation

For equal line intensities, the correlation is proportional to . The two-line coherence beating envelope is therefore .
In the original first plot, the first visibility zeros are at approximately ; the envelope revives at and about . Hence
Use the envelope recurrence or its nulls, not the much faster carrier fringes. The visibility zeros indicate equal component intensities in the ideal model; unequal intensities would leave a nonzero minimum. The arbitrary vertical normalization does not affect the inferred separation.

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