Using CMB data to constrain non-isotropic Planck-scale modifications to Electrodynamics
- Berkeley Lab and University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
- Università di Roma Tor Vergata, via della Ricerca Scientifica, 1, Roma (Italy)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California (United States)
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università La Sapienza, P. le A. Moro 2, Roma (Italy)
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara, via G. Saragat 1, Ferrara (Italy)
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana Science Data Center, c/o ESRIN, via Galileo Galilei, Frascati (Italy)
We develop a method to constrain non-isotropic features of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization, of a type expected to arise in some models describing quantum gravity effects on light propagation. We describe the expected signatures of this kind of anomalous light propagation on CMB photons, showing that it will produce a non-isotropic birefringence effect, i.e. a rotation of the CMB polarization direction whose observed amount depends in a peculiar way on the observation direction. We also show that the sensitivity levels expected for CMB polarization studies by the Planck satellite are sufficient for testing these effects if, as assumed in the quantum-gravity literature, their magnitude is set by the minute Planck length.
- OSTI ID:
- 22280249
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2011, Issue 11; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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