2011/02/28 by Robert T. Thompson, Robert T Thompson
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Curvature #Geometrical optics #Metamaterial #Metamaterials and Metasurfaces Applications #Minkowski space #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Schwarzschild radius #Transformation (genetics) #Transformation optics #gr-qc #physics.optics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/2040-8978/14/1/015102
published as Journal of Optics 14, 015102 (2012) · 14 pages, 3 figures. Latest version has expanded analysis, corresponds to published version
openalex publication_date 2011/12/15 · arxiv created 2012/01/19 · arxiv updated 2012/01/20 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
One potentially realistic specification for devices designed with transformation optics is that they operate with high precision in curved space-time, such as Earth orbit.This raises the question of what, if any, role does space-time curvature play in determining transformation media?Transformation optics has been based on a 3-vector representation of Maxwell's equations in flat Minkowski space-time.I discuss a completely covariant, manifestly four-dimensional approach that enables transformations in arbitrary space-times, and demonstrate this approach for stable circular orbits in the spherically symmetric Schwarzschild geometry.Finally, I estimate the magnitude of curvature induced contributions to satellite-borne transformation media in Earth orbit and comment on the level of precision required for metamaterial fabrication before such contributions become important.