Gravitational distortion on photon state at the vicinity of the Earth

Qasem Exirifard and Ebrahim Karimi
Phys. Rev. D 105, 084016 – Published 11 April 2022

Abstract

As a photon propagates along a null geodesic, the space-time curvature around the geodesic distorts its wave function. We utilize the Fermi coordinates adapted to a general null geodesic and derive the equation for interaction between the Riemann tensor and the photon wave function. The equation is solved by being mapped to a time-dependent Schrödinger equation in (2+1) dimensions. The results show that as a Gaussian time-bin wave packet with a narrow bandwidth travels over a null geodesic, it gains an extra phase that is a function of the Riemann tensor evaluated and integrated over the propagation trajectory. This extra phase is calculated for communication between satellites around the Earth and is shown to be measurable by current technology.

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  • Received 4 November 2021
  • Accepted 23 March 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.084016

© 2022 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & AstrophysicsQuantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

Qasem Exirifard* and Ebrahim Karimi

  • Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada

  • *qexirifa@uottawa.ca
  • ekarimi@uottawa.ca

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Issue

Vol. 105, Iss. 8 — 15 April 2022

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