The observed output of an interferometer is the result of interference among the parts of the input light beam traveling along each possible optical path. In complex systems, writing down all these possible optical paths and computing their cumulative effect can become a difficult task. We present an intuitive graph-based method for solving this problem and calculating electric fields within an interferometric setup, classical and quantum. We show how to associate a weighted directed graph with an interferometer and define rules to simplify these associated graphs. Successive application of the rules results in a final graph containing information on the desired field amplitudes. The method is applied to a number of examples in cavity optomechanics and cavity-enhanced interferometers.

中文翻译：

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有向图和干涉法

观察到的干涉仪输出是沿每个可能的光路传播的输入光束部分之间干涉的结果。在复杂的系统中，写下所有这些可能的光路并计算其累积效应可能会成为一项艰巨的任务。我们提出了一种基于图形的直观方法来解决此问题并计算干涉测量装置（经典和量子）中的电场。我们展示了如何将加权有向图与干涉仪相关联，并定义规则以简化这些相关联的图。规则的连续应用将产生一个最终图形，其中包含有关所需场振幅的信息。该方法适用于腔光学机械和腔增强干涉仪中的许多示例。