Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 3043–3046 (1997)Indication of Anisotropy in Electromagnetic Propagation over Cosmological DistancesReceived 12 January 1995; revised 22 July 1996; published in the issue dated 21 April 1997 We report a systematic rotation of the plane of polarization of electromagnetic radiation propagating over cosmological distances. The effect is extracted independently from Faraday rotation, and found to be correlated with the angular positions and distances to the sources. Monte Carlo analysis yields probabilistic P values of order 10-3 for this to occur as a fluctuation. A fit yields a birefringence scale of order 1025h0/hm. Dependence on redshift z rules out a local effect. Barring hidden systematic bias in the data, the correlation indicates a new cosmological effect. © 1997 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3043
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3043
PACS:
98.80.Es, 41.20.Jb
See AlsoComment: Daniel J. Eisenstein and Emory F. Bunn, Appropriate Null Hypothesis for Cosmological Birefringence, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 1957 (1997). Reply: Borge Nodland and John P. Ralston, Nodland and Ralston Reply:, Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 1958 (1997). |
|
About | Terms and Conditions | Subscriptions | Search | Help
Use of the American Physical Society websites and journals implies that the user has read and agrees to our Terms and Conditions and any applicable Subscription Agreement. Physical Review®, Physical Review Letters®, Reviews of Modern Physics®, and Physical Review Special Topics® are trademarks of the American Physical Society.