Probing Spacetime Foam with Photons: Suppression of Observable Effects due to Uncertainty in Optical Paths

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dc.creatorChen, Yanbei
dc.creatorWen, Linqing
dc.date2006-05-17
dc.date2006-05-27
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T07:09:44Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T07:09:44Z
dc.descriptionIt was recently proposed to use extra-galactic point sources to constrain space-time quantum fluctuations in the universe. In these proposals, the fundamental "fuzziness" of distance caused by space-time quantum fluctuations have been directly identified with fluctuations in optical paths. Phase-front corrugations deduced from these optical-path fluctuations are then applied to light from extragalactic point sources, and used to constrain various models of quantum gravity. In particular, the so-called random-walk model has been claimed to be ruled out by existing astrophysical observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. However, when a photon propagates in three spatial dimensions, it does not follow a specific ray, but would rather sample a finite, three-dimensional region around that ray -- thereby averaging over space-time quantum fluctuations all through that region. We use a simple, random-walk type model to demonstrate that, once the appropriate wave optics is applied, the averaging of neighboring space-time fluctuations will cause much less distortions on the phase front. In our model, the extra suppression factor due to diffraction is (Planck Length)/(Wavelength), which is at least 19 orders of magnitude for astronomical observations.
dc.description4 pages, 1 figure. Derivations and arguments refined. Results unchanged
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0605093
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0605093
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/111186
dc.subjectGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
dc.titleProbing Spacetime Foam with Photons: Suppression of Observable Effects due to Uncertainty in Optical Paths
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