摘要The strong similarities between the light propagation in a curved spacetime and that in a medium with graded refractive index are found. It is pointed out that a curved spacetime is equivalent to an inhomogeneous vacuum for light propagation. The corresponding graded refractive index of the vacuum in a static spherically symmetrical gravitational field is derived. This result provides a simple and convenient way to analyse the gravitational lensing in astrophysics.
Abstract：The strong similarities between the light propagation in a curved spacetime and that in a medium with graded refractive index are found. It is pointed out that a curved spacetime is equivalent to an inhomogeneous vacuum for light propagation. The corresponding graded refractive index of the vacuum in a static spherically symmetrical gravitational field is derived. This result provides a simple and convenient way to analyse the gravitational lensing in astrophysics.
YE Xing-Hao;LIN Qiang. Inhomogeneous Vacuum: An Alternative Interpretation of Curved Spacetime[J]. 中国物理快报, 2008, 25(5): 1571-1574.
YE Xing-Hao, LIN Qiang. Inhomogeneous Vacuum: An Alternative Interpretation of Curved Spacetime. Chin. Phys. Lett., 2008, 25(5): 1571-1574.
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