Electrodynamics of accelerated systems

The standard theory for accelerated observers relies on the premise that measurements can be made instantaneously or, equivalently, over a time interval where the change in the observer's velocity is negligible i.e. the hypothesis of locality. This theory provides good agreement with experiment for most cases. However, for very large accelerations this local theory should diverge from experimental results. This work considers measurements of frequency where the velocity of the observer appreciably changes during the time of the measurement. This is done through a numerical Fourier analysis of a pulse of electromagnetic radiation. When this is done, the frequency spectra seen by these accelerated observers have a much more complex structure than under the standard theory. Also, in this work, the phenomenon of helicity-rotation coupling is considered and some of the observation consequences of the coupling of the spin of the particle with the rotation of a gravitational source will be examined. Although at present most experiments can not produce accelerations large enough to diverge from the standard theory, recent advances in laser technology, such as Chirped Pulse Amplification, may soon allow the non-standard theory to be tested. It is in expectation of this that this work has been done.