Sagnac interferometer
E646034
A Sagnac interferometer is an optical device that splits and recombines light traveling in opposite directions around a closed loop to measure rotation or phase shifts with high precision.
All labels observed (3)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Sagnac effect | 2 |
| Sagnac experiment | 1 |
| Sagnac interferometer canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T7151478 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Sagnac interferometer Context triple: [Fourier transform spectrometer, mayUse, Sagnac interferometer]
-
A.
Michelson interferometer
The Michelson interferometer is a precision optical instrument that splits and recombines light beams to measure extremely small differences in path length, widely used in fundamental physics experiments and metrology.
-
B.
Mach–Zehnder interferometer
The Mach–Zehnder interferometer is an optical device that splits and recombines light beams to produce interference patterns, widely used to demonstrate and study fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and wave interference.
-
C.
Arago ring
The Arago ring is a faint, narrow planetary ring encircling Neptune, named after the French astronomer François Arago.
-
D.
Fizeau experiment
The Fizeau experiment was a pioneering 19th-century physics experiment that measured the speed of light using a rotating toothed wheel and helped establish light’s finite velocity.
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E.
Kennedy–Thorndike experiment
The Kennedy–Thorndike experiment is a classic test of special relativity that examined the constancy of the speed of light using an interferometer with unequal arm lengths and varying laboratory velocity.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Sagnac interferometer Target entity description: A Sagnac interferometer is an optical device that splits and recombines light traveling in opposite directions around a closed loop to measure rotation or phase shifts with high precision.
-
A.
Michelson interferometer
The Michelson interferometer is a precision optical instrument that splits and recombines light beams to measure extremely small differences in path length, widely used in fundamental physics experiments and metrology.
-
B.
Mach–Zehnder interferometer
The Mach–Zehnder interferometer is an optical device that splits and recombines light beams to produce interference patterns, widely used to demonstrate and study fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and wave interference.
-
C.
Arago ring
The Arago ring is a faint, narrow planetary ring encircling Neptune, named after the French astronomer François Arago.
-
D.
Fizeau experiment
The Fizeau experiment was a pioneering 19th-century physics experiment that measured the speed of light using a rotating toothed wheel and helped establish light’s finite velocity.
-
E.
Kennedy–Thorndike experiment
The Kennedy–Thorndike experiment is a classic test of special relativity that examined the constancy of the speed of light using an interferometer with unequal arm lengths and varying laboratory velocity.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
optical interferometer
ⓘ
precision measurement device ⓘ rotation sensor ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
fundamental physics experiments
ⓘ
geophysics ⓘ inertial navigation ⓘ |
| basedOn |
Sagnac effect
ⓘ
linked to:
Sagnac interferometer
|
| canUseMedium |
free‑space path
ⓘ
optical fiber ⓘ ring laser cavity ⓘ |
| comparedWith | Michelson interferometer ⓘ |
| developedFrom |
Sagnac experiment
ⓘ
linked to:
Sagnac interferometer
|
| differsFrom | Michelson interferometer by using a closed loop path ⓘ |
| hasComponent |
detector
ⓘ
input beam splitter ⓘ optical path loop ⓘ output beam combiner ⓘ |
| hasConfiguration |
fiber loop geometry
ⓘ
free‑space loop geometry ⓘ ring geometry ⓘ |
| hasEffect | interference fringes ⓘ |
| hasOutput | intensity modulation at detector ⓘ |
| hasPrinciple | phase difference proportional to rotation rate ⓘ |
| hasProperty |
common‑path stability
ⓘ
high rotational sensitivity ⓘ insensitivity to linear acceleration ⓘ |
| measures |
angular velocity
ⓘ
phase shift ⓘ rotation ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Georges Sagnac ⓘ |
| operatesWith |
coherent light source
ⓘ
laser ⓘ |
| relatesTo |
non‑inertial reference frames
ⓘ
special relativity ⓘ |
| sensitiveTo |
path length difference
ⓘ
refractive index changes ⓘ rotation‑induced phase shift ⓘ |
| usedFor |
gyroscopy
ⓘ
precision metrology ⓘ tests of fundamental physics ⓘ |
| usedIn |
fiber‑optic gyroscope
ⓘ
optical rotation sensors ⓘ ring laser gyroscope ⓘ |
| uses |
beam splitter
ⓘ
closed optical path ⓘ counter‑propagating beams ⓘ light ⓘ mirrors ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Sagnac interferometer Description of subject: A Sagnac interferometer is an optical device that splits and recombines light traveling in opposite directions around a closed loop to measure rotation or phase shifts with high precision.
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
linked to: Sagnac interferometer
linked to: Sagnac interferometer
linked to: Sagnac interferometer