RELATIVISTIC THEORY OF POLARIZATION AND MAGNETIZATION DUE TO AN ELECTROMAGNETIC-FIELD .1. THE VELOCITY DEPENDENCE OF OPTICAL-ROTATORY DISPERSION

A relativistic theory of polarization and magnetization due to an electromagnetic field is developed in powers of the electric and magnetic components, E and B. For an observer in the rest frame of an earthbound laboratory the observable birefringence using the light from a distant galaxy as a source of radiation becomes dependent on the velocity of that source through the Lorentz transformations. Circular birefringence and dichroism, angle of rotation, and related effects for the same optically active material using earthbound and galactic sources would provide data dependent on the velocity of the source frame with respect to the rest frame. This amplifies the birefringence to the point where tiny parity-violating effects may become observable in the rest frame of the earthbound observer.