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arXiv · 1705.07082

Gravity and handedness of photons

Ivan Agullo·Adrian del Rio·Jose Navarro-Salas
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Abstract

Vacuum fluctuations of quantum fields are altered in presence of a strong gravitational background, with important physical consequences. We argue that a non-trivial spacetime geometry can act as an optically active medium for quantum electromagnetic radiation, in such a way that the state of polarization of radiation changes in time, even in the absence of electromagnetic sources. This is a quantum effect, and is a consequence of an anomaly related to the classical invariance under electric-magnetic duality rotations in Maxwell theory.

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Ivan Agullo, Adrian del Rio, Jose Navarro-Salas. 2017-05-19. Gravity and handedness of photons. https://doi.org/10.1142/s0218271817420019

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