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arXiv · gr-qc/9604052

Gravitons and Lightcone Fluctuations II: Correlation Functions

L. H. Ford·N. F. Svaiter
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Abstract

A model of a fluctuating lightcone due to a bath of gravitons is further investigated. The flight times of photons between a source and a detector may be either longer or shorter than the light propagation time in the background classical spacetime, and will form a Gaussian distribution centered around the classical flight time. However, a pair of photons emitted in rapid succession will tend to have correlated flight times. We derive and discuss a correlation function which describes this effect. This enables us to understand more fully the operational significance of a fluctuating lightcone. Our results may be combined with observational data on pulsar timing to place some constraints on the quantum state of cosmological gravitons.

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L. H. Ford, N. F. Svaiter. 1996-04-27. Gravitons and Lightcone Fluctuations II: Correlation Functions. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.54.2640

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