  We experimentally and theoretically investigate mechanical nanooscillators
coupled to the light in an optical ring resonator made of dielectric mirrors.
We identify an optomechanical damping mechanism that is fundamentally different
to the well known cooling in standing wave cavities. While, in a standing wave
cavity the mechanical oscillation shifts the resonance frequency of the cavity
in a ring resonator the frequency does not change. Instead the position of the
nodes is shifted with the mechanical excursion. We derive the damping rates and
test the results experimentally with a silicon-nitride nanomembrane. It turns
out that scattering from small imperfections of the dielectric mirror coatings
has to be taken into account to explain the value of the measured damping rate.
We extend our theoretical model and regard a second reflector in the cavity
that captures the effects of mirror back scattering. This model can be used to
also describe the situation of two membranes that both interact with the cavity
fields. This may be interesting for future work on synchronization of distant
oscillators that are coupled by intracavity light fields.
