The fundamental limit to the precision of setting on a fringe peak due to photon noise is evaluated for a certain class of interferometric methods in terms of parameters characterizing the source, the interferometer, and the detector. It is shown that changes in path difference of 10 −10 should be detectable with an observing time of 1 second, using only modest equipment. Some of the experimental conditions required to attain this precision are discussed.
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G. R. Hanes (1959) studied this question.