Constraints on the photon mass with fast radio bursts

Xue Feng Wu; Song Bo Zhang; He Gao; Jun Jie Wei; Yuan Chuan Zou; Wei Hua Lei; Bing Zhang; Zi Gao Dai; Peter Mészáros

doi:10.3847/2041-8205/822/1/L15

Constraints on the photon mass with fast radio bursts

Xue Feng Wu, Song Bo Zhang, He Gao, Jun Jie Wei, Yuan Chuan Zou, Wei Hua Lei, Bing Zhang, Zi Gao Dai, Peter Mészáros

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are radio bursts characterized by millisecond durations, high Galactic latitude positions, and high dispersion measures. Very recently, the cosmological origin of FRB 150418 has been confirmed by Keane et al., and FRBs are now strong competitors as cosmological probes. The simple sharp feature of the FRB signal is ideal to probe some of the fundamental laws of physics. Here we show that by analyzing the delay time between different frequencies, the FRB data can place stringent upper limits on the rest mass of the photon. For FRB 150418 at z = 0.492, one can potentially reach m_γ ≤ 5.2 × 10^-47 g, which is 10²⁰ times smaller than the rest mass of electron and is about 10³ times smaller than that obtained using other astrophysical sources with the same method.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	L15
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	822
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/822/1/L15
State	Published - Jan 1 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.3847/2041-8205/822/1/L15

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title = "Constraints on the photon mass with fast radio bursts",

abstract = "Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are radio bursts characterized by millisecond durations, high Galactic latitude positions, and high dispersion measures. Very recently, the cosmological origin of FRB 150418 has been confirmed by Keane et al., and FRBs are now strong competitors as cosmological probes. The simple sharp feature of the FRB signal is ideal to probe some of the fundamental laws of physics. Here we show that by analyzing the delay time between different frequencies, the FRB data can place stringent upper limits on the rest mass of the photon. For FRB 150418 at z = 0.492, one can potentially reach mγ ≤ 5.2 × 10-47 g, which is 1020 times smaller than the rest mass of electron and is about 103 times smaller than that obtained using other astrophysical sources with the same method.",

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AU - Wu, Xue Feng

AU - Zhang, Song Bo

AU - Gao, He

AU - Wei, Jun Jie

AU - Zou, Yuan Chuan

AU - Lei, Wei Hua

AU - Zhang, Bing

AU - Dai, Zi Gao

AU - Mészáros, Peter

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

N2 - Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are radio bursts characterized by millisecond durations, high Galactic latitude positions, and high dispersion measures. Very recently, the cosmological origin of FRB 150418 has been confirmed by Keane et al., and FRBs are now strong competitors as cosmological probes. The simple sharp feature of the FRB signal is ideal to probe some of the fundamental laws of physics. Here we show that by analyzing the delay time between different frequencies, the FRB data can place stringent upper limits on the rest mass of the photon. For FRB 150418 at z = 0.492, one can potentially reach mγ ≤ 5.2 × 10-47 g, which is 1020 times smaller than the rest mass of electron and is about 103 times smaller than that obtained using other astrophysical sources with the same method.

AB - Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are radio bursts characterized by millisecond durations, high Galactic latitude positions, and high dispersion measures. Very recently, the cosmological origin of FRB 150418 has been confirmed by Keane et al., and FRBs are now strong competitors as cosmological probes. The simple sharp feature of the FRB signal is ideal to probe some of the fundamental laws of physics. Here we show that by analyzing the delay time between different frequencies, the FRB data can place stringent upper limits on the rest mass of the photon. For FRB 150418 at z = 0.492, one can potentially reach mγ ≤ 5.2 × 10-47 g, which is 1020 times smaller than the rest mass of electron and is about 103 times smaller than that obtained using other astrophysical sources with the same method.

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