Revisiting van Citter-Zernike correlations in the presence of primordial gravitational waves

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Arani, Fateme Shojaei, Harouni, Malek Bagheri, Lamine, Brahim, Blanchard, Alain
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Arani, Fateme Shojaei
Harouni, Malek Bagheri
Lamine, Brahim
Blanchard, Alain
author_facet Arani, Fateme Shojaei
Harouni, Malek Bagheri
Lamine, Brahim
Blanchard, Alain
contents In this paper, we develop a quantum field theory framework to describe the interaction between a gravitational wave (GW) background and an electromagnetic (EM) field emitted from a distant celestial source, such as a star. We demonstrate that a background of primordial gravitational waves (PGWs), as predicted by the inflationary scenario, induces a loss of spatial coherence in the EM field as it propagates over cosmological distances. This effect leads to the degradation of van Cittert-Zernike correlations, ultimately rendering them unobservable - a phenomenon referred to as blurring. Since spatial coherence is observed in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) measurements of distant quasars, this places constraints on the amplitude of the PGW background. We quantitatively evaluate the blurring effect caused by PGWs in a two-mode squeezed state, which represents the standard quantum state predicted by the simplest inflationary models. However, due to the weak coupling between GWs and the EM field, we find that the induced incoherence is too small to be detected in current VLBI observations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_00474
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Revisiting van Citter-Zernike correlations in the presence of primordial gravitational waves
Arani, Fateme Shojaei
Harouni, Malek Bagheri
Lamine, Brahim
Blanchard, Alain
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
In this paper, we develop a quantum field theory framework to describe the interaction between a gravitational wave (GW) background and an electromagnetic (EM) field emitted from a distant celestial source, such as a star. We demonstrate that a background of primordial gravitational waves (PGWs), as predicted by the inflationary scenario, induces a loss of spatial coherence in the EM field as it propagates over cosmological distances. This effect leads to the degradation of van Cittert-Zernike correlations, ultimately rendering them unobservable - a phenomenon referred to as blurring. Since spatial coherence is observed in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) measurements of distant quasars, this places constraints on the amplitude of the PGW background. We quantitatively evaluate the blurring effect caused by PGWs in a two-mode squeezed state, which represents the standard quantum state predicted by the simplest inflationary models. However, due to the weak coupling between GWs and the EM field, we find that the induced incoherence is too small to be detected in current VLBI observations.
title Revisiting van Citter-Zernike correlations in the presence of primordial gravitational waves
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.00474