Oblique reflection of a laser pulse from a perfect elastic mirror

An oblique reflection of a laser pulse from a fully reflective mirror is treated using the fundamental nonrelativistic conservation principles of energy and momentum. Since the mirror is considered as an elastic object, the reflection of light gives rise to an elastic wave with measurable amplitude that propagates within the mirror. Our results predict a larger Doppler shift in the reflected pulse for the most common setting, when the mirror is initially at rest, compared to the results obtained when the mirror is treated as rigid.