Abnormal light propagation and the underdetermination of theory by evidence in astrophysics

DOI10.1016/J.AOP.2023.169552arXiv2305.08666OpenAlexW4388801843MaRDI QIDQ6143399FDOQ6143399

Authors: Felipe A. Asenjo, Sergio A. Hojman, Niels S. Linnemann, James Read 

Publication date: 5 January 2024

Published in: Annals of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We investigate the propagation of certain non-plane wave solutions to Maxwell's equations in both flat and curved spacetimes. We find that the effective signal velocity associated to such solutions need not be $c$ and that the signal need not propagate along null geodesics; indeed, more than this, we find that the information encoded in the signals associated with such solutions can be substantially non-local. Having established these results, we then turn to their conceptual-philosophical-foundational significance -- which, in brief, we take to be the following: (i) one should not assume that all electromagnetic waves generated in the cosmos are localised plane wave packages; thus, (ii) one cannot assume that signals reaching us from the cosmos arrive with a particular velocity (namely, $c$), and that such signals encode local information regarding their sources; therefore (iii) astrophysicists and cosmologists should be wary about making such assumptions in their inferences from obtained data -- for to do so may lead to incorrect inferences regarding the nature of our universe.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.08666

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zbMATH Keywords

Airy beamwave velocityelectromagnetc waves

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Waves and radiation in optics and electromagnetic theory (78A40) Electromagnetic fields in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C50)

Cites Work

• Solution to the ghost problem in fourth order derivative theories
• Reconsidering Relativistic Causality
• Prerequisites for a consistent framework of quantum gravity

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