Astronomical Image Blurring from Transversely Correlated Quantum Gravity Fluctuations

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Lee, Vincent S. H., Zurek, Kathryn M., Chen, Yanbei
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2023
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author Lee, Vincent S. H.
Zurek, Kathryn M.
Chen, Yanbei
author_facet Lee, Vincent S. H.
Zurek, Kathryn M.
Chen, Yanbei
contents Quantum fluctuations in spacetime can, in some cases, lead to distortion in astronomical images of faraway objects. In particular, a stochastic model of quantum gravity predicts an accumulated fluctuation in the path length $ΔL$ with variance $\langle ΔL^2\rangle\sim l_pL$ over a distance $L$, similar to a random walk, and assuming no spatial correlation above length $l_p$; it has been argued that such an effect is ruled out by observation of sharp images from distant stars. However, in other theories, such as the pixellon (modeled on the Verlinde-Zurek (VZ) effect), quantum fluctuations can still accumulate as in the random walk model while simultaneously having large distance correlations in the fluctuations. Using renormalization by analytic continuation, we derive the correlation transverse to the light propagation, and show that image distortion effects in the pixellon model are strongly suppressed in comparison to the random walk model, thus evading all existing and future constraints. We also find that the diffraction of light rays does not lead to qualitative changes in the blurring effect.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_06757
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Astronomical Image Blurring from Transversely Correlated Quantum Gravity Fluctuations
Lee, Vincent S. H.
Zurek, Kathryn M.
Chen, Yanbei
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Quantum fluctuations in spacetime can, in some cases, lead to distortion in astronomical images of faraway objects. In particular, a stochastic model of quantum gravity predicts an accumulated fluctuation in the path length $ΔL$ with variance $\langle ΔL^2\rangle\sim l_pL$ over a distance $L$, similar to a random walk, and assuming no spatial correlation above length $l_p$; it has been argued that such an effect is ruled out by observation of sharp images from distant stars. However, in other theories, such as the pixellon (modeled on the Verlinde-Zurek (VZ) effect), quantum fluctuations can still accumulate as in the random walk model while simultaneously having large distance correlations in the fluctuations. Using renormalization by analytic continuation, we derive the correlation transverse to the light propagation, and show that image distortion effects in the pixellon model are strongly suppressed in comparison to the random walk model, thus evading all existing and future constraints. We also find that the diffraction of light rays does not lead to qualitative changes in the blurring effect.
title Astronomical Image Blurring from Transversely Correlated Quantum Gravity Fluctuations
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.06757