6533b82cfe1ef96bd128eb88
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Spontaneous creation of circularly polarized photons in chiral astrophysical systems
Nicolas Sanchis-gualVassilios MewesVassilios MewesVassilios MewesAdrián Del RíoJosé A. FontIvan AgulloJosé Navarro-salassubject
PhysicsPhotonGravitational waveAstrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical PhenomenaGeneral Physics and AstronomyFOS: Physical sciencesGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)01 natural sciencesGeneral Relativity and Quantum CosmologyBlack holeNeutron starNumerical relativityGeneral Relativity and Quantum CosmologyGravitational fieldVacuum energyBinary black holeQuantum electrodynamics0103 physical sciences010306 general physicsdescription
This work establishes a relation between chiral anomalies in curved spacetimes and the radiative content of the gravitational field. In particular, we show that a flux of circularly polarized gravitational waves triggers the spontaneous creation of photons with net circular polarization from the quantum vacuum. Using waveform catalogues we identify precessing binary black holes as astrophysical configurations that emit such gravitational radiation, and then solve the fully non-linear Einstein's equations with numerical relativity to evaluate the net effect. The quantum amplitude for a merger is comparable to the Hawking emission rate of the final black hole, and small to be directly observed. However, the implications for the inspiral of binary neutron stars could be more prominent, as argued on symmetry grounds.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-02-04 |