IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v426y2003i6963d10.1038_426139a.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A constraint on canonical quantum gravity?

Author

Listed:
  • Igor G. Mitrofanov

    (Space Research Institute)

Abstract

Gamma rays from the γ-ray burst (GRB) 021206 have been reported to be strongly linearly polarized1, with the estimated degree of polarization (80 ± 20%) being close to the absolute maximum of 100% — affording us the opportunity to constrain models of quantum gravity, which has had 1010 years to act on the photons as they travelled towards us. Here I show that if the effects of quantum gravity are linearly proportional to the ratio of the photon energy to the characteristic scale energy of quantum gravity, then the polarization of photons with energies of about 0.1 MeV should be completely random, contrary to what is observed. I conclude that, should the polarization measurement be confirmed, quantum gravity effects act with a power that is greater than linearity, or that loop quantum gravity is not viable. Compared with previous methods and results (see ref. 2, for example), testing of the linear polarization of cosmic γ-ray bursts may substantially extend the observational window on the theory of quantum gravity.

Suggested Citation

  • Igor G. Mitrofanov, 2003. "A constraint on canonical quantum gravity?," Nature, Nature, vol. 426(6963), pages 139-139, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:426:y:2003:i:6963:d:10.1038_426139a
    DOI: 10.1038/426139a
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/426139a
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/426139a?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:426:y:2003:i:6963:d:10.1038_426139a. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.