Can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ?
Abstract H.A. Wilson, then R.H. Dicke, proposed to describe gravitation by a spatial change of the refractive index of the vacuum around a gravitational mass. Dicke extended this formalism in order to describe the apparent expansion of the universe by a cosmological time dependence of the global vac...
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Springer
2018-06-01
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| Series: | European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-5932-8 |
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doaj-art-e30bae158c6e494da29c2ec6684f73702018-08-20T15:44:56ZengSpringerEuropean Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields1434-60441434-60522018-06-017861910.1140/epjc/s10052-018-5932-8Can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ?X. Sarazin0F. Couchot1A. Djannati-Ataï2M. Urban3LAL, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Paris-SaclayLAL, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Paris-SaclayAPC, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Observatoire de Paris, CEA/IrfuLAL, IN2P3/CNRS, Université Paris-SaclayAbstract H.A. Wilson, then R.H. Dicke, proposed to describe gravitation by a spatial change of the refractive index of the vacuum around a gravitational mass. Dicke extended this formalism in order to describe the apparent expansion of the universe by a cosmological time dependence of the global vacuum index. In this paper, we develop Dicke’s formalism. The metric expansion in standard cosmology (the time-dependent scale factor of the Friedmann–Lemaître curved spacetime metric) is replaced by a flat and static Euclidean metric with a change with time of the vacuum index. We show that a vacuum index increasing with time produces both the cosmological redshift and time dilation, and that the predicted evolution of the energy density of the cosmological microwave background is consistent with the standard cosmology. We then show that the type Ia supernovæ data, from the joint SDSS-II and SNLS SNe-Ia samples, are well modeled by a vacuum index varying exponentially as $$n(t)=exp(t/\tau _0)$$ n(t)=exp(t/τ0) , where $$\tau _0=8.0^{+0.2}_{-0.8}$$ τ0=8.0-0.8+0.2 Gyr. The main consequence of this formalism is that the cosmological redshift should affect any atom, with a relative decrease of the energy levels of about $$-2 \ 10^{-18} \ \mathrm {s}^{-1}$$ -210-18s-1 . Possibilities for an experimental investigation of this prediction are discussed.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-5932-8 |
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English |
| format |
Article |
| author |
X. Sarazin F. Couchot A. Djannati-Ataï M. Urban |
| spellingShingle |
X. Sarazin F. Couchot A. Djannati-Ataï M. Urban Can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ? European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| author_facet |
X. Sarazin F. Couchot A. Djannati-Ataï M. Urban |
| author_sort |
X. Sarazin |
| title |
Can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ? |
| title_short |
Can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ? |
| title_full |
Can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ? |
| title_fullStr |
Can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ? |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ? |
| title_sort |
can the apparent expansion of the universe be attributed to an increasing vacuum refractive index ? |
| publisher |
Springer |
| series |
European Physical Journal C: Particles and Fields |
| issn |
1434-6044 1434-6052 |
| publishDate |
2018-06-01 |
| description |
Abstract H.A. Wilson, then R.H. Dicke, proposed to describe gravitation by a spatial change of the refractive index of the vacuum around a gravitational mass. Dicke extended this formalism in order to describe the apparent expansion of the universe by a cosmological time dependence of the global vacuum index. In this paper, we develop Dicke’s formalism. The metric expansion in standard cosmology (the time-dependent scale factor of the Friedmann–Lemaître curved spacetime metric) is replaced by a flat and static Euclidean metric with a change with time of the vacuum index. We show that a vacuum index increasing with time produces both the cosmological redshift and time dilation, and that the predicted evolution of the energy density of the cosmological microwave background is consistent with the standard cosmology. We then show that the type Ia supernovæ data, from the joint SDSS-II and SNLS SNe-Ia samples, are well modeled by a vacuum index varying exponentially as $$n(t)=exp(t/\tau _0)$$ n(t)=exp(t/τ0) , where $$\tau _0=8.0^{+0.2}_{-0.8}$$ τ0=8.0-0.8+0.2 Gyr. The main consequence of this formalism is that the cosmological redshift should affect any atom, with a relative decrease of the energy levels of about $$-2 \ 10^{-18} \ \mathrm {s}^{-1}$$ -210-18s-1 . Possibilities for an experimental investigation of this prediction are discussed. |
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http://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-018-5932-8 |
| _version_ |
1612687376820207616 |