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Fermat's principle in quantum gravitational optics

Ahmadi, N ; Sharif University of Technology | 2008

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2008/05/015
  3. Publisher: 2008
  4. Abstract:
  5. Interactions incorporating the vacuum polarization effects in curved backgrounds modify the null cone structure in such a way that the photon trajectories would not be the space-time geodesics any longer. The gravitational birefringence introduced as a direct consequence of these effects will allow shifts in the photon velocities leading to polarization dependent superluminal propagation. Taking these effects into account, we study Fermat's principle in the context of the 1+3 (threading) formulation of the space-time decomposition. We find an expression for the modified space-time refractive index and show that it is proportional to the light cone correction to first order. Consequences of this modification for spatial light paths are considered. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd
  6. Keywords:
  7. Gravity ; Quantum field theory on curved space
  8. Source: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics ; Volume 2008, Issue 5 , 2008 ; 14757516 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2008/05/015