Abstract
We report a systematic rotation of the plane of polarization of electromagnetic radiation propagating over cosmological distances. The effect is extracted independently from Faraday rotation, and found to be correlated with the angular positions and distances to the sources. Monte Carlo analysis yields probabilistic values of order for this to occur as a fluctuation. A fit yields a birefringence scale of order . Dependence on redshift rules out a local effect. Barring hidden systematic bias in the data, the correlation indicates a new cosmological effect.
- Received 12 January 1995
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.3043
©1997 American Physical Society