Indication of Anisotropy in Electromagnetic Propagation over Cosmological Distances
Abstract
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 1025h0h m. Dependence on redshift z rules out a local effect. Barring hidden systematic bias in the data, the correlation indicates a new cosmological effect.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- April 1997
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3043
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/9704196
- Bibcode:
- 1997PhRvL..78.3043N
- Keywords:
-
- Astrophysics;
- High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 1 figure, ReVTeX. For more information, see http://www.cc.rochester.edu/college/rtc/Borge/aniso.html