Flow birefringence in gases at room temperature: New absolute values

Absolute flow birefringence data are required for a final consistency test of the kinetic theory of angular momentum polarizations. In order to obtain reliable values the possible sources of error in the experimental set-up used to measure flow birefringence in gases have been investigated. Special attention has been given to the calibration procedure and to the flow characteristics of the cylindrical Couette flow cell. New absolute data for various simple gases at 293 K are presented. The results will be used in a subsequent paper to get information on the scalar factor of the angular momentum polarization in viscous flow.