The Variable-c Cosmology as a Solution to Pioneer Anomaly

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the Pioneer anomaly can be explained by variable speed of light cosmological models, where the decreasing light speed causes observable effects like anomalous light delays and Doppler shifts.

Contribution

It introduces a novel cosmological model with variable light speed as a natural explanation for the Pioneer anomaly, linking local observations to cosmic-scale physics.

Findings

Pioneer anomaly explained as a consequence of decreasing light speed

Variable speed of light causes measurable light propagation delays

Anomalous Doppler shifts are consistent with the model

Abstract

It is shown that the Pioneer anomaly is a natural consequence of variable speed of light cosmological models wherein the speed of light is assumed to be a power-law function of the scale factor (or cosmic time). In other words, the Pioneer anomaly can be regarded as a non-gravitational effect of the continuously decreasing speed of light which indicates itself as an anomalous light propagation time delay in local frames. This time delay is accordingly interpreted as an additional Doppler blue shift.