DOE OSTI Β· 21503575
Testing photons' Bose-Einstein statistics with Compton scattering
Abstract
It is an empirical question whether photons always obey Bose-Einstein statistics, but devising and interpreting experimental tests of photon statistics can be a challenge. The nonrelativistic cross section for Compton scattering illustrates how a small admixture {nu} of wrong-sign statistics leads to a loss of gauge invariance; there is a large anomalous amplitude for scattering timelike photons. Nevertheless, one can interpret the observed transparency of the solar wind plasma at low frequencies as a bound {nu}<10{sup -25} if Lorentz symmetry is required. If there is instead a universal preferred frame, the bound is {nu}<10{sup -14}, still strong compared with previous results.
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Altschul, Brett. 2010-11-15. Testing photons' Bose-Einstein statistics with Compton scattering. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.82.101703
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