Photon Mass and Very Long Baseline Interferometry

TL;DR

This paper derives a relation connecting photon mass, frequency, and gravitational deflection parameter, enabling bounds on photon mass to be set using VLBI measurements of solar radio wave deflection.

Contribution

It introduces a new relation linking photon mass with gravitational deflection parameters, allowing experimental bounds to be derived from VLBI data.

Findings

Upper bounds on photon mass estimated from VLBI measurements.

Relation between photon mass, frequency, and deflection parameter established.

Demonstrates how gravitational deflection data constrains photon mass.

Abstract

A relation between the photon mass, its frequency, $\nu$, and the deflection parameter, $\gamma$, determined by experimentalists (which characterizes the contribution of space curvature to gravitational deflection) is found. This amazing result allows us to conclude that the knowledge of the parameters $\nu$ and $\gamma$ is all we need to set up gravitational bounds on the photon mass. By considering as inputs the most recent measurements of the solar gravitational deflection of radio waves obtained via the Very Long Baseline Interferometry, upper bounds on the photon mass are estimated.