Fermat's principle in quantum gravitational optics
- Department of Physics, University of Tehran, North Karegar Avenue, Tehran 14395-547 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)
- Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, PO Box 11365-9161 Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)
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.
- OSTI ID:
- 22156628
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2008, Issue 05; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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