Graviton-Photon Oscillations as a Probe of Quantum Gravity
Abstract
The Gertsenshtein effect could in principle be used to detect a single graviton by firing it through a region filled with a constant magnetic field that enables its conversion to a photon, which can be efficiently detected via standard techniques. The quantization of the gravitational field could then be inferred indirectly. We show that for currently available single-photon detector technology, the Gertsenshtein detector is generically inefficient, meaning that the probability of detection is $\ll 1$. The Gertsenshtein detector can become efficient on astrophysical scales for futuristic single-photon detectors sensitive to frequencies in the Hz to kHz range. It is not clear whether such devices are in principle possible.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- May 2024
- DOI:
- 10.48550/arXiv.2405.01407
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2405.01407
- Bibcode:
- 2024arXiv240501407P
- Keywords:
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- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;
- High Energy Physics - Theory
- E-Print:
- 22 pages, no figures. v2: clarified discussion in section 2