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Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Limits on The Photon Mass

ALFRED S. GOLDHABER* and MICHAEL MARTIN NIETO†,‡

ALFRED S. GOLDHABER*

  • Institute for Theoretical Physics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11790

MICHAEL MARTIN NIETO†,‡

  • The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106

  • *Supported in part under the auspices of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.
  • †Supported in part by the National Science Foundation.
  • ‡Address after September 1, 1971: Department of Physics, Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind. 47907.
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Rev. Mod. Phys. 43, 277 – Published 1 July, 1971

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.43.277

Abstract

We give a review of methods used to set a limit on the mass μ of the photon. Direct tests for frequency dependence of the speed of light are discussed, along with more sensitive techniques which test Coulomb's Law and its analog in magnetostatics. The link between dynamic and static implications of finite μ is deduced from a set of postulates that make Proca's equations the unique generalization of Maxwell's. We note one hallowed postulate, that of energy conservation, which may be tested severely using pulsar signals. We present the merits of the old methods and of possible new experiments, and discuss other physical implications of finite μ. A simple theorem is proved: For an experiment confined in dimensions D, effects of finite μ are of order (μD)2—there is no "resonance" as the oscillation frequency ω approaches μ (ℏ=c=1). The best results from past experiments are (a) terrestrial measurements of c at different frequencies μ≤2×10−43g≡7×10−6cm−1≡10−10 eV (b) measurements of radio dispersion in pulsar signals (whistler effect) μ≤10−44g≡3×10−7cm−1≡6×10−12 eV (c) laboratory tests of Coulomb's law μ≤2×10−47g≡6×10−10cm−1≡10−14 eV (d) limits on a constant "external" magnetic field at the earth's surface μ≤4×10−48g≡10−10cm−1≡3×10−15 eV. Observations of the Galactic magnetic field could improve the limit dramatically.

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Rev. Mod. Phys. 43, 277– Published 1 July, 1971

    © 1971 American Physical Society

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