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Stringy space‐time foam refraction and γ‐ray astronomy
Author(s) -
Mavromatos N.E.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
fortschritte der physik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.469
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1521-3978
pISSN - 0015-8208
DOI - 10.1002/prop.201000052
Subject(s) - physics , gamma ray burst , fermi gamma ray space telescope , photon , context (archaeology) , astrophysics , space (punctuation) , spacetime , refraction , space time , astronomy , optics , quantum mechanics , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , biology , chemical engineering , engineering
I review briefly a model of space‐time foam in string theory that generates a non‐trivial refractive index for photons in a way compatible with current astrophysical measurements on delayed arrivals of more energetic photons from distant cosmic sources. In this context, I also discuss the recent measurements by FERMI/Large Area Telescope on the highly energetic Gamma Ray Burst GRB 090510, and I explain under what conditions for the model they can become compatible with the other measurements.