Influence of field potential on the speed of light

TL;DR

This paper explores how scalar potentials in electromagnetic and gravitational fields, modeled with octonions, can cause slight variations in the speed of light and lead to phenomena like negative refractive indexes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel octonion-based model linking scalar potentials to variations in light speed and refractive properties in different fields.

Findings

Speed of light varies with scalar potentials in optical waveguides.

Negative refractive indexes can occur due to scalar potentials.

Predictions align with observed variations in light speed in complex fields.

Abstract

The paper discusses the affection of the scalar potential on the speed of light in the electromagnetic field, by means of the characteristics of octonion. In the octonion space, the radius vector is combined with the integral of field potentials to become one new radius vector. When the field potentials can not be neglected, the new radius vector will cause the prediction to departure slightly from the theoretical value of the speed of light. The results explain why the speed of light varies in diversiform optical waveguide. And there exist negative refractive indexes due to different scalar potentials in the gravitational field and electromagnetic field.