Study of the refractive index distribution of air around a candle flame

Abstract A contour mapping of modulated two-beam fringes is obtained assuming a truncated Gaussian model for the refractive index of air around a candle flame placed in one of the arms of a Michelson interferometer. Quantitative analysis of the experimentally obtained interferograms, making use of Abel inversion, is performed. A close agreement between theoretical and experimental results is found.