Tight bounds on the Maxwell-Carroll-Field-Jackiw parameters using Fast Radio Bursts

TL;DR

This paper uses observations of fast radio bursts to place stringent constraints on chiral modifications to electromagnetism, specifically the Maxwell-Carroll-Field-Jackiw parameters, by analyzing time delays and Faraday rotation.

Contribution

It derives new bounds on MCFJ parameters from FRB data, improving previous limits by analyzing dispersion and rotation measures in a chiral cosmic medium.

Findings

Constraints on chiral parameter magnitude at 10^{-26} to 10^{-24} GeV.

Upper bounds on MCFJ parameters as low as 10^{-43} GeV.

Demonstrates the potential of FRB observations to test fundamental physics.

Abstract

We investigate the arrival time and the Faraday rotation of extragalactic electromagnetic signals from fast radio bursts (FRBs) propagating through chiral cosmic media within the framework of Maxwell-Carroll-Field-Jackiw (MCFJ) electrodynamics. By treating the interstellar medium as a cold, ionized chiral plasma, we derive the time delay between two traveling signals, expressing it in terms of modified dispersion measures (DMs) containing chiral contributions. The Faraday rotation angle is then written in terms of modified rotation measures (RMs). By combining the DMs and redshift data from a set of FRBs, we obtain constraints on the chiral parameter magnitude at the order of $10^{-26}$--$10^{-24}$ GeV. Using the Faraday rotation formulae and RM measurements, upper bounds as stringent as $10^{-43}$ GeV on the MCFJ parameters are also obtained.