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arXiv · 1008.4779

Testing Photons' Bose-Einstein Statistics With Compton Scattering

Brett Altschul
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Abstract

It is an empirical question whether photons always obey Bose-Einstein statistics, but devising and interpreting experimental tests of photon statistics can be a challenge. The nonrelativistic cross section for Compton scattering illustrates how a small admixture nu of wrong-sign statistics leads to a loss of gauge invariance; there is a large anomalous amplitude for scattering timelike photons. Nevertheless, one can interpret the observed transparency of the solar wind plasma at low frequencies as a bound nu < 10^(-25) if Lorentz symmetry is required. If there is instead a universal preferred frame, the bound is nu < 10^(-14), still strong compared with previous results.

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Brett Altschul. 2010-08-27. Testing Photons' Bose-Einstein Statistics With Compton Scattering. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.82.101703

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