Extracting electromagnetic signatures of spacetime fluctuations

TL;DR

This paper develops a formalism to detect spacetime fluctuations through electromagnetic field correlations, applying it to interferometer data to constrain the scale and strength of such fluctuations more stringently than previous astronomical bounds.

Contribution

Introduces a new formalism for analyzing electromagnetic signatures of spacetime fluctuations and applies it to interferometric data to set tighter constraints.

Findings

Constraints on spacetime fluctuations are more stringent than previous astronomical bounds.

The formalism can evaluate and guide experiments like QUEST for quantum spacetime fluctuations.

Comparison with Holometer and aLIGO data shows potential to detect or limit spacetime noise.

Abstract

We present a formalism to discern the effects of fluctuations of the spacetime metric on electromagnetic radiation. The formalism works via the measurement of electromagnetic field correlations, while allowing a clear assessment of the assumptions involved. As an application of the formalism, we present a model of spacetime fluctuations that appear as random fluctuations of the refractive index of the vacuum in single, and two co-located Michelson interferometers. We compare an interferometric signal predicted using this model to experimental data from the Holometer and aLIGO. We show that if the signal manifests at a frequency at which the interferometers are sensitive, the strength and scale of possible spacetime fluctuations can be constrained. The bounds, thus obtained, on the strength and scale of the spacetime fluctuations, are also shown to be more stringent than the bounds obtained previously using astronomical observation at optical frequencies. The formalism enables us to evaluate proposed experiments such as QUEST for constraining quantum spacetime fluctuations and to design new ones.