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# Quantum Gravitational Optics Review article commissioned by ‘Contemporary Physics’.

## 1 Time and Light

Einstein’s discovery of relativity nearly a century ago highlighted the fundamental nature of the speed of light and revolutionised our concept of time. In particular, relativity predicts that a signal moving faster than light would, from the viewpoint of some inertial observers, be moving backwards in time. The ideas of faster than light motion and time travel became inextricably linked. Recently, a new perspective on these issues has arisen from the study of quantum effects such as vacuum polarisation on the nature of light propagation in general relativity. The classical picture of light rays mapping out the geometry of curved spacetime gives way in quantum theory to a range of optical phenomena such as birefringence, lensing and dispersion. Gravitational rainbows appear. Most remarkably, even superluminal propagation appears to be possible.

In this paper, we review some of these recent developments, focusing on the issue of superluminal light and its implications for causality. From the outset, we have to clarify what we mean by ‘superluminal’. Special (general) relativity is characterised by global (local) Lorentz invariance, that is the invariance of the laws of physics in distinct inertial frames of reference. The Lorentz transformations introduce a new fundamental constant of nature, $`c`$, which in classical theory may be identified with the unique and unambiguous speed of light. In what follows, however, we must distinguish clearly between this fundamental constant and the actual propagation speed of light; when we use the word ‘superluminal’, we simply mean ‘greater than $`c`$’. The key point is that it is the null cones generated by the speed $`c`$ which divide spacetime into ‘timelike’ and ‘spacelike’ regions – a superluminal signal therefore travels into the spacelike region and, for some observers, back in time. As we shall see, light may do precisely this.

The propagation of light is already a rich field in classical general relativity. In the presence of a gravitational field, spacetime becomes curved. Light rays follow null geodesics – geodesics being the analogues of shortest distant paths in curved spacetime, and null denoting that the frequency and wave vector satisfy the simple relation $`k^2=\omega ^2|\underset{¯}{k}|^2=0`$ (where from now on, we use conventional units where $`c=1`$) which is equivalent to the phase velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}=\omega /|\underset{¯}{k}|=1`$. Light rays therefore act as tracers, mapping out the curvature of spacetime. This immediately predicts the bending of light around a massive object, as observed by Eddington during the famous 1919 expedition to observe a solar eclipse in Brazil. Nowadays, this effect is the basis for the burgeoning science of gravitational lensing, which has become a crucial tool in the search for dark matter in the universe.

In quantum field theory, however, a whole range of new phenomena emerge. Curved spacetime acts as an optical medium with its own refractive index. Dispersive effects (rainbows) and polarisation-dependent propagation (birefringence) arise. The simple identification of the geometric null cones of curved spacetime with the physical light cones corresponding to the actual propagation of light pulses is lost. The field of quantum gravitational optics takes on a new richness. The big surprise, however, is the apparent prediction in some circumstances of a superluminal speed of light.

These new developments were initiated by a pioneering paper in 1980 by Drummond and Hathrell , who studied the effects on light propagation of vacuum polarisation (see Fig. 1) in quantum electrodynamics. This is a uniquely quantum field theoretic process, in which a photon metamorphoses into a virtual electron-positron pair. This gives the photon an effective size characterised by the Compton wavelength $`\lambda _c`$ of the electron. It follows that its propagation will be affected by gravity if the scale of the spacetime curvature is comparable to $`\lambda _c`$. Of course, such effects will be tiny for the curvatures associated with normal astrophysical objects. However, this is characteristic of the physics of quantum fields in curved spacetime, the most important example of which is the famous Hawking  radiation from black holes. Like Hawking radiation, the main importance of the effects described here is likely to be conceptual, especially on their implications for our understanding of the realisation of causality in theories incorporating quantum theory and gravity.

As Drummond and Hathrell showed, the effect of vacuum polarisation is to induce direct interactions of $`O(\alpha )`$ between the electromagnetic field and the spacetime curvature. In other words, the classical Maxwell equations are modified by terms explicitly involving the curvature. This breaks the strong equivalence principle (SEP). As we explain carefully later, it is this effective violation of the SEP which opens up the possibility that superluminal propagation may exist without, as would be the case in special relativity, necessarily implying a breakdown of causality. This is the key conceptual issue raised by the introduction of quantum field theory into gravitational optics.

The paper is arranged as follows. In section 2, we review briefly the key points of geometric optics, which allows us to pass from Maxwell’s equations, or their quantum modifications, to the characteristics of light propagation. Vacuum polarisation in curved spacetime and the construction of the Drummond-Hathrell effective action is reviewed in section 3, and its implications for photon propagation in a variety of cosmological and black hole spacetimes are explored in section 4. Section 5 is devoted to the conceptual issues surrounding the compatibility of superluminal light with causality. Section 6 focuses on the crucial question of dispersion, explaining why the high-frequency limit is essential for causality and describing recent developments  in the quantum theory, including a generalised effective action aimed at clarifying the nature of high-frequency propagation. Finally, in section 7, we comment briefly on a number of speculative ideas in the current literature which reflect in some way on the physics reviewed here.

## 2 Geometric Optics in Curved Spacetime

Classically, the propagation of light in general relativity is governed by Maxwell’s equation for the electromagnetic field,

$$D_\mu F^{\mu \nu }=0$$
(1)
together with the Bianchi identity

$$D_{[\lambda }F_{\mu \nu ]}=0$$
(2)
which ensures $`F_{\mu \nu }=_\mu A_\nu _\nu A_\mu `$. The simplest way to deduce the properties of light cones and light rays from these equations is to use geometric optics. (For a clear introduction, see for example ref..) This starts from the ansatz

$$(A_\mu +iϵB_\mu +\mathrm{})\mathrm{exp}\left(i\frac{\vartheta }{ϵ}\right)$$
(3)
in which the electromagnetic field is written as a slowly-varying amplitude and a rapidly-varying phase. The parameter $`ϵ`$ is introduced as a device to keep track of the relative order of magnitude of terms, and the Bianchi and Maxwell equations are solved order-by-order in $`ϵ`$. The wave vector is identified as the gradient of the phase, $`k_\mu =_\mu \vartheta `$. We also write $`A_\mu =Aa_\mu `$, where $`A`$ represents the amplitude itself while $`a_\mu `$ specifies the polarisation, which satisfies $`k_\mu a^\mu =0`$.

Solving the Maxwell equation, we find at $`O(1/ϵ)`$,

$$k^2=0$$
(4)
while at $`O(1)`$,

$$k^\mu D_\mu a^\nu =0$$
(5)
and

$$k^\mu D_\mu (\mathrm{ln}A)=\frac{1}{2}D_\mu k^\mu $$
(6)
Eq.(4) shows immediately that $`k_\mu `$ is a null vector. From its definition as a gradient, we also see

$$k^\mu D_\mu k^\nu =k^\mu D^\nu k_\mu =\frac{1}{2}D^\nu k^2=0$$
(7)
Light rays, or equivalently photon trajectories, are the integral curves of $`k^\nu `$, i.e. the curves $`x^\mu (s)`$ where $`dx^\mu /ds=k^\mu `$. These curves therefore satisfy

$$0=k^\mu D_\mu k^\nu =\frac{d^2x^\nu }{ds^2}+\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mu \lambda }^\nu \frac{dx^\mu }{ds}\frac{dx^\lambda }{ds}$$
(8)
This is the geodesic equation. We conclude that for the usual Maxwell theory in general relativity, light follows null geodesics. Eqs.(7),(5) show that both the wave vector and the polarisation are parallel transported along these null geodesic rays, while Eq.(6), whose r.h.s. is just (minus) the optical scalar $`\theta `$, shows how the amplitude changes as the beam of rays focuses or diverges.

This picture allows us to identify the physical light cones, specified by the dispersion relation $`k^2=0`$, with the geometric null cones of the background spacetime. Moreover, light propagation is non-dispersive, i.e. light of all frequencies (or equivalently, photons of all momenta), travel at the same unique speed $`c`$, the fundamental constant determining the local Lorentz invariance of curved spacetime. Of course, this is why the distinction between ‘timelike’ and ‘spacelike’ directions and more generally the analysis of the causal properties of curved spacetime is traditionally expressed in the language of light signals. However, as we shall now see, this whole picture has to be radically revised when we consider the quantum nature of light and its interaction with gravity.

## 3 Vacuum Polarisation

The quantum theory of photons interacting with electrons is quantum electrodynamics, so in this section we take a first look at the effects of QED interactions on photon propagation in curved spacetime, i.e. in a classical background gravitational field.

The simplest Feynman diagram contributing to photon propagation is the so-called ‘vacuum polarisation’ process shown in Fig. 1. In picturesque terms, this can be thought of as the photon splitting into a virtual electron-positron pair which subsequently recombine. The effect is, in a certain sense, to give the photon an effective size characterised by the Compton wavelength $`\lambda _c=1/m`$ of the electron (where $`m`$ is its mass). It is therefore possible to think of the photon propagating as if it were a quantum cloud of size $`O(\lambda _c)`$ rather than a point particle. It is then plausible that if the photon passes through an anisotropic curved spacetime whose typical curvature scale $`L`$ is comparable to $`\lambda _c`$, then its motion would be affected, possibly in a polarisation-dependent way.

A rigorous analysis in QED confirms this picture. The light-cone is indeed altered and the photon acquires a polarisation-dependent correction to its velocity of $`O(\alpha \lambda _c^2/L^2)`$. What is less predictable is that in some cases these quantum corrections apparently produce superluminal velocities!

Technically, the consequences of vacuum polarisation are summarised in the form of an effective action. At one-loop order, the QED effective action is given by

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{M}+\mathrm{ln}\mathrm{det}S(x,x^{})$$
(9)
where

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{M}=\frac{1}{4}𝑑x\sqrt{g}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }$$
(10)
is the free Maxwell action (which gives rise to the standard Maxwell equation (1)) and $`S(x,x^{})`$ is the Green function of the Dirac operator (i.e. the electron propagator) in the background gravitational field, i.e.

$$\left(i\text{/}Dm\right)S(x,x^{})=\frac{i}{\sqrt{g}}\delta (x,x^{})$$
(11)
In fact it is more convenient to work with the differential operator corresponding to the scalar Green function $`G(x,x^{})`$ defined by

$$S(x,x^{})=\left(i\text{/}D+m\right)G(x,x^{})$$
(12)
so that

$$\left(D^2+ie\sigma ^{\mu \nu }F_{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{4}R+m^2\right)G(x,x^{})=\frac{i}{\sqrt{g}}\delta (x,x^{})$$
(13)
Then we evaluate $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ from the heat kernel, or proper time, representation

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{M}\frac{1}{2}_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{ds}{s}e^{im^2s}\mathrm{Tr}𝒢(x,x^{};s)$$
(14)
where

$$𝒟𝒢(x,x^{};s)=i\frac{}{s}𝒢(x,x^{};s)$$
(15)
with $`𝒢(x,x^{};0)=\delta (x,x^{})`$. Here, $`𝒟`$ is the differential operator in Eq.(13) at $`m=0`$.

A complete evaluation of this effective action, even at $`O(\alpha )`$, is impossible with current techniques. We are forced to make two crucial approximations. The first is a weak-field approximation for gravity – this means we keep only terms in the final effective action of first order in the curvature tensors $`R`$, $`R_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`R_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }`$ (the Ricci scalar, Ricci tensor and Riemann tensor respectively). This implies our results for photon propagation are valid only to lowest order in the parameter $`\lambda _c^2/L^2`$. The second, which we shall try to overcome in section 6, is a low-frequency approximation – this means that we neglect terms induced in the effective action which involve higher orders in derivatives of the fields. The resulting leading-order effective action was first calculated by Drummond and Hathrell in their pioneering paper on superluminal light . Fortunately, this already encodes much of the novel physics of photon propagation in curved spacetime.

The Drummond-Hathrell action is

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{DH}}=\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{M}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{m^2}}{\displaystyle 𝑑x\sqrt{g}}`$ $`(aRF_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }+bR_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \lambda }F^\nu {}_{\lambda }{}^{}+cR_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }F^{\mu \nu }F^{\lambda \rho }`$ (16)
$`+dD_\mu F^{\mu \lambda }D_\nu F^\nu {}_{\lambda }{}^{})`$
where $`a,b,c,d`$ are perturbative coefficients of $`O(\alpha )`$, viz.

$$a=\frac{1}{144}\frac{\alpha }{\pi }b=\frac{13}{360}\frac{\alpha }{\pi }c=\frac{1}{360}\frac{\alpha }{\pi }d=\frac{1}{30}\frac{\alpha }{\pi }$$
(17)
## 4 Faster than Light?

In this section, we show how photon propagation is modified by these new interactions between photons and the gravitational field. As we shall see, this brings some surprises, notably the possibility of superluminal velocities.

### 4.1 Light Cones and Birefringence

The first step is to apply the geometric optics method described in section 2 to the equation of motion derived from the quantum effective action (16), viz:

$$D_\mu F^{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{m^2}\left[2bR_{\mu \lambda }D^\mu F^{\lambda \nu }+4cR_\mu {}_{}{}^{\nu }{}_{\lambda \rho }{}^{}D_{}^{\mu }F^{\lambda \rho }\right]=0$$
(18)
Here, we have neglected derivatives of the curvature tensor, which would be suppressed by powers of $`O(\lambda /L)`$, where $`\lambda `$ is the photon wavelength and $`L`$ is a typical curvature scale, and we have omitted the new contributions involving $`D_\mu F^{\mu \nu }`$ : since this term is already $`O(\alpha )`$ using the equations of motion, these contributions only affect the light cone condition at $`O(\alpha ^2)`$ and must be dropped for consistency.

Implementing the geometric optics ansatz, we quickly find the new light cone condition:

$$k^2\frac{2b}{m^2}R_{\mu \lambda }k^\mu k^\lambda +\frac{8c}{m^2}R_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }k^\mu k^\lambda a^\nu a^\rho =0$$
(19)
Since this is still homogeneous and quadratic in $`k^\mu `$, we can write it as

$$𝒢^{\mu \nu }k_\mu k_\nu =0$$
(20)
defining $`𝒢^{\mu \nu }`$ as the appropriate function of the curvature and polarisation. This immediately means that, at least in this approximation, there is no dispersion.111Notice also that this is quite different from the dispersion relation $`p^2=m^2`$ for a ‘conventional’ tachyon. In this case (see section 5), the superluminal tachyon velocity is energy dependent.

Now notice that in the discussion of the free Maxwell theory, we did not need to distinguish between the photon momentum $`p^\mu `$, i.e. the tangent vector to the light rays, and the wave vector $`k_\mu `$ since they were simply related by raising the index using the spacetime metric, $`p^\mu =g^{\mu \nu }k_\nu `$. In the modified theory, however, there is an important distinction. The wave vector, defined as the gradient of the phase, is a covariant vector or 1-form, whereas the photon momentum/tangent vector to the rays is a true contravariant vector. The relation is non-trivial. In fact, given $`k_\mu `$, we should define the corresponding ‘momentum’ as

$$p^\mu =𝒢^{\mu \nu }k_\nu $$
(21)
and the light rays as curves $`x^\mu (s)`$ where $`\frac{dx^\mu }{ds}=p^\mu `$. This definition of momentum satisfies

$$G_{\mu \nu }p^\mu p^\nu =𝒢^{\mu \nu }k_\mu k_\nu =0$$
(22)
where $`G𝒢^1`$ defines a new effective metric which determines the light cones mapped out by the geometric optics light rays. (Indices are always raised or lowered using the true metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$.) The ray velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ray}}`$ corresponding to the momentum $`p^\mu `$, which is the velocity with which the equal-phase surfaces advance, is given by (defining components in an orthonormal frame)

$$v_{\mathrm{ray}}=\frac{|\underset{¯}{p}|}{p^0}=\frac{d|\underset{¯}{x}|}{dt}$$
(23)
along the ray. This is in general different from the phase velocity

$$v_{\mathrm{ph}}=\frac{k^0}{|\underset{¯}{k}|}$$
(24)
although this discrepancy only arises when there is a difference between the direction of propagation along the rays and the wave 3-vector. Otherwise, it follows directly from 22 that $`v_{\mathrm{ray}}`$ and $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}`$ are identical.

This shows that, at least at this level of approximation, photon propagation for QED in curved spacetime can be characterised as a bimetric theory – the physical light cones are determined by the effective metric $`G_{\mu \nu }`$ and are distinct from the geometric null cones which are fixed by the spacetime metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$.

It is instructive to rewrite the new light cone condition in terms of the Weyl tensor (the trace-free part of the Riemann tensor) and the energy-momentum tensor, using the Einstein field equation

$$R_{\mu \nu }\frac{1}{2}Rg_{\mu \nu }=8\pi T_{\mu \nu }$$
(25)
This gives :

$$k^2\frac{8\pi }{m^2}(2b+4c)T_{\mu \lambda }k^\mu k^\lambda +\frac{8c}{m^2}C_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }k^\mu k^\lambda a^\nu a^\rho =0$$
(26)
which splits the light-cone corrections into two pieces, the first representing the effect of matter and the second the gravitational field. The matter contribution turns out to be relatively universal ; the same formula accommodates the effects on photon propagation due to background magnetic fields, Casimir cavities, finite temperature environments, etc. It involves a projection of the energy-momentum tensor whose sign is fixed by the weak-energy condition, and in all non-gravitational situations this correction leads to a timelike $`p^2`$, i.e. a reduction in the speed of light. The second contribution, however, is unique to gravity.

It is immediately clear that the contribution of the Weyl tensor to the light-cone shift depends on the photon polarisation $`a_\mu `$. This interaction therefore produces a polarisation-dependent shift in the velocity of light – gravitational birefringence. Moreover, it has a special property which is not immediately evident but can be proved simply using symmetry properties of the Weyl tensor (see ). The two physical transverse polarisations give a contribution of the same magnitude but of opposite sign. This has a striking consequence: if we consider Ricci-flat spacetimes, so that the Weyl interaction is the only contribution to the light-cone shift, it follows that if one polarisation produces a timelike shift in $`p^2`$, the other must necessarily produce a spacelike shift. That is, the light cone (26) necessarily predicts superluminal velocities!

### 4.2 Cosmological and Black Hole Spacetimes

To understand these new phenomena in more detail, we now look at two specific examples. First, we consider the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) spacetime which describes standard big-bang cosmology – this is Weyl-flat so only the energy-momentum term in Eq.(26) contributes to the velocity shift. Second, we consider a Ricci flat case, where only the Weyl term contributes, viz. the Schwarzschild spacetime describing a non-rotating black hole.

The FRW metric is

$$ds^2=dt^2R^2(t)\left(\frac{dr^2}{1kr^2}+r^2(d\theta ^2+\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi ^2)\right)$$
(27)
where $`R(t)`$ is the scale factor and $`k=0,\pm 1`$ determines whether the 3-space is flat, open or closed. The energy-momentum tensor is

$$T_{\mu \nu }=(\rho +P)n_\mu n_\nu Pg_{\mu \nu }$$
(28)
with $`n^\mu `$ specifying the time direction in a comoving orthonormal frame. $`\rho `$ is the energy density and $`P`$ is the pressure, which in a radiation-dominated era are related by $`\rho 3P=0`$.

Since the FRW metric is Weyl flat, the light cone (26) is simply

$$k^2=\zeta T_{\mu \nu }k^\mu k^\nu $$
(29)
where $`\zeta =\frac{8\pi }{m^2}(2b+4c)`$. The corresponding phase velocity

$$v_{\mathrm{ph}}=1+\frac{1}{2}\zeta (\rho +P)$$
(30)
is independent of polarisation and is found to be superluminal .

At first sight, this may look surprising given that $`k^2>0`$, its sign fixed by the weak energy condition $`T_{\mu \nu }k^\mu k^\nu 0`$. However, if instead we consider the momentum along the rays, $`p^\mu =𝒢^{\mu \nu }k_\nu `$, we find

$$p^2=g_{\mu \nu }p^\mu p^\nu =\zeta (\rho +P)(p^0)^2$$
(31)
and

$$v_{\mathrm{ray}}=\frac{|\underset{¯}{p}|}{p^0}=1+\frac{1}{2}\zeta (\rho +P)$$
(32)
The effective metric $`G=𝒢^1`$ is (in the orthonormal frame)

$$G=\left(\begin{array}{cccc}1+\zeta \rho & 0& 0& 0\\ 0& (1\zeta P)& 0& 0\\ 0& 0& (1\zeta P)& 0\\ 0& 0& 0& (1\zeta P)\end{array}\right)$$
(33)
In this case, therefore, we find equal and superluminal velocities $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}=v_{\mathrm{ray}}`$ and $`p^2<0`$ is manifestly spacelike as required.

For a second example , consider the Ricci-flat Schwarzschild spacetime, with metric

$$ds^2=\left(1\frac{2M}{r}\right)dt^2\left(1\frac{2M}{r}\right)^1dr^2r^2(d\theta ^2+\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi ^2)$$
(34)
In the classical theory, with $`k^2=0`$, there is a special solution of the null geodesic equations describing a light ray in a circular orbit with specified radius $`r=3M`$. Using the new light cone (26) and choosing $`k_\mu `$ and $`a_\mu `$ to represent photons in a circular orbit with transverse polarisations, we find

$$k^2=\pm \frac{8c}{m^2}\frac{3M}{r^3}(k^0)^2$$
(35)
where $`k^0`$ is the time component of the wave vector in an orthonormal frame. The phase velocity is therefore

$$v_{\mathrm{ph}}=\frac{k^0}{k^3}=1\pm \frac{4c}{m^2}\frac{3M}{r^3}$$
(36)
and evaluating at $`r=3M`$ gives the phase velocity of the new circular orbit, up to $`O(\alpha )`$. Crucially, we see that one of the polarisations has a superluminal velocity.

The radius of the circular photon orbit is changed to $`r=3M+O(\alpha )`$, and similarly the location of the effective ergosphere for the rotating black hole (Kerr metric) is shifted by polarisation-dependent $`O(\alpha )`$ corrections due to the modified speed of light . However, the event horizon itself has a special status . It can be shown that for a normal-directed null vector $`k_\mu `$, both terms in the modified light cone (26) vanish . It seems that while in general the quantum-corrected light cones differ from the geometric null cones, the geometric event horizon remains a true horizon for the propagation of physical photons.

### 4.3 Observability?

A similar calculation in the Schwarzschild metric shows that the angle of deflection of light around a star (one of the classic tests of general relativity) is modified. If the classical deflection angle is $`\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi `$, then the quantum shift is given by

$$\delta (\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi )=\pm \frac{8c}{m^2}\frac{1}{R^2}\mathrm{\Delta }\varphi $$
(37)
where $`R`$ is the distance of closest approach. This gravitational birefringence effect would also mean that there is in principle a polarisation dependence in gravitational lensing. Is this observable?

The problem is that the magnitude of all these quantum gravitational optics phenomena is incredibly small for astrophysical scales. Recall that the order of magnitude of the shift in the speed of light is $`O(\alpha \lambda _c^2/L^2)`$ for a typical curvature scale $`L`$. It is therefore suppressed by the square of the ratio of a quantum scale $`(\lambda _c)`$ to an astrophysical curvature scale $`L`$. This is tiny – for a solar mass black hole the correction (36) to the speed of light is $`O\left(\alpha m_{pl}^4/(m^2M^2)\right)O(10^{34})`$, while the correction (37) to the bending of light for solar parameters is only of $`O(10^{47})`$. Of course this is not surprising – it follows immediately from the discussion of the physics of vacuum polarisation in section 3 – and is typical of all phenomena in the theory of quantum fields in curved spacetime, such as the famous example of Hawking radiation from black holes. The effect only becomes large for quantum-scale black holes, which may have arisen in the very early universe. Like Hawking radiation, therefore, the main interest in this phenomenon of quantum-induced superluminal propagation is probably conceptual: the existence of thermal Hawking radiation forces us to reconsider the consistency of quantum mechanics with gravity, while this superluminal effect challenges our understanding of time and causality.

Similarly, in the case of the FRW spacetime, the change in the speed of light only becomes appreciable when the curvature becomes of order the quantum scale, at which point our weak-field approximation breaks down and we can only guess at the possible effects. Nevertheless, in the radiation dominated era, where $`\rho (t)=\frac{3}{32\pi }t^2`$, we have

$$v_{\mathrm{ph}}=1+\frac{1}{16\pi }\zeta t^2$$
(38)
which, as already observed in ref., increases towards the early universe. Although this expression is only reliable in the perturbative weak-field regime, it is nonetheless intriguing that QED predicts a rise in the speed of light in the early universe. It is interesting to speculate whether this superluminal effect persists for high curvatures near the initial singularity and whether it could play a role in resolving the horizon problem in cosmology.

Beyond these potential cosmological or astrophysical effects, there is a potential obstruction in principle to the observation of these superluminal phenomena. The argument runs as follows . If we assume that a typical time over which propagation can be followed is characterised by the curvature scale $`L`$, then the length difference between paths corresponding to different polarisations is $`\alpha \lambda _c^2/L`$. Very loosely, let us say that observability requires this to be $`O(\lambda )`$, where $`\lambda `$ is the wavelength of the light. The condition for observability is therefore $`\alpha \lambda _c^2/(\lambda L)>1`$. But the derivation required not only the weak-field assumption $`L\lambda _c`$ but also assumed (because of the truncated derivative expansion in the action) that the photon frequency is small, i.e. $`\lambda \lambda _c`$. Now in practice, spectroscopic techniques allow very much more sensitive detection so the $`O(1)`$ on the right hand side of the observability criterion could be many orders of magnitude less (indeed factors of $`10^{10}`$ are achieved in the interferometry used in gravitational wave detectors). Nevertheless, this does mean that to ensure that the superluminal phenomenon is genuinely observable as a matter of principle and that there is no absolute obstruction to its measurement, we need to extend the derivation of the light cone condition beyond the low-frequency approximation. This is addressed in section 6, where we study the whole question of dispersion.

## 5 Causality

The ability to send signals ‘faster than light’ is inextricably linked in most people’s minds with the possibility of time travel. However, this identification is founded mainly on intuition arising from special relativity. As we shall see, the correspondence between superluminal propagation and causality in general relativity is rather more subtle.

### 5.1 Superluminal Propagation in Special and General Relativity

We therefore begin by considering superluminal propagation in special relativity. The first important observation is that given a superluminal signal we can always find a reference frame in which it is travelling backwards in time. This is illustrated in Fig. 2.

Suppose we send a signal from O to A at speed $`v>1`$ (in $`c=1`$ units) in frame $`𝒮`$ with coordinates $`(t,x)`$. In a frame $`𝒮^{}`$ moving with respect to $`𝒮`$ with velocity $`u>\frac{1}{v}`$, the signal travels backwards in $`t^{}`$ time, as follows immediately from the Lorentz transformation. To see this in detail, recall that from the Lorentz transformations we have $`t_A^{}=\gamma (u)t_A(1uv)`$ and $`x_A^{}=\gamma (u)x_A(1\frac{u}{v})`$ For the situation realised in Fig. 2, we require both $`x_A^{}>0`$ and $`t_A^{}<0`$, that is $`\frac{1}{v}<u<v`$, which admits a solution only if $`v>1`$.

The important point for our considerations is that this by itself does not necessarily imply a violation of causality. For this, we require that the signal can be returned from A to a point in the past light cone of O. However, if we return the signal from A to B with the same speed in frame $`𝒮`$, then of course it arrives at B in the future cone of O. The situation is physically equivalent in the Lorentz boosted frame $`𝒮^{}`$ – the return signal travels forward in $`t^{}`$ time and arrives at B in the future cone of O. This, unlike the assignment of spacetime coordinates, is a frame-independent statement.

The problem with causality arises from the scenario illustrated in Fig. 3. Clearly, if a backwards-in-time signal OC is possible in frame $`𝒮`$, then a return signal sent with the same speed will arrive at D in the past light cone of O creating a closed time loop OCDO. The crucial point is that local Lorentz invariance of the laws of motion implies that if a superluminal signal such as OA is possible, then so is one of type OC 222For example, suppose we have a conventional tachyon with a spacelike momentum $`p^2=m^2<0`$. Setting $`p^\mu =dx^\mu /ds`$ so that its velocity is $`v_{tach}=d|\underset{¯}{x}|/dt=|\underset{¯}{p}|/p^0`$, we find $`v_{tach}=\sqrt{1+\frac{m^2}{E^2}}`$ where we have used the notation $`E=p^0`$ and as usual set $`c=1`$. The velocity therefore depends on the energy (note that the dispersion relation $`p^2+m^2=0`$, while Lorentz invariant, is not homogeneous in $`p`$), so by an appropriate Lorentz transformation we can change the superluminal tachyon velocity at will. The general result is that if the dynamical equations are invariant under local Lorentz transformations and superluminal motion of type OA (Fig. 2) is possible, then so is ‘backwards-in-time’ motion of type OC (Fig. 3)., since it is just given by an appropriate Lorentz boost. The existence of global inertial frames then guarantees the existence of the return signal CD (in contrast to the situation in Fig. 2 viewed in the $`𝒮^{}`$ frame).

The moral is that both conditions must be met in order to guarantee the occurrence of unacceptable closed time loops – the existence of a superluminal signal and global Lorentz invariance. Of course, since global Lorentz invariance (the existence of global inertial frames) is the essential part of the structure of special relativity, we recover the conventional wisdom that in this theory, superluminal propagation is indeed in conflict with causality.

So much for special relativity. The situation is, however, crucially different in general relativity. This is formulated on the basis of the weak equivalence principle, which we understand here as the statement that a local inertial frame exists at each point in spacetime. This implies that spacetime in general relativity is a Riemannian manifold. However, local Lorentz invariance alone is not sufficient to establish the link between superluminal propagation and causality violation. This is usually established by adding a second, dynamical, assumption. The strong equivalence principle (SEP) states that the laws of physics should be identical in the local frames at different points in spacetime, and that they should reduce to their special relativistic forms at the origin of each local frame. It is the SEP which takes over the role of the existence of global inertial frames in special relativity in establishing the incompatibility of superluminal propagation and causality.

However, unlike the weak equivalence principle, which underpins the essential structure of general relativity, the SEP is merely a simplifying assumption about the dynamics of matter coupled to gravitational fields. Mathematically, it requires that matter or electromagnetism is minimally coupled to gravity, i.e. with interactions depending only on the connections but not the local curvature. This ensures that at the origin of a local frame, where the connections may be Lorentz transformed locally to zero, the dynamical equations recover their special relativistic form. In particular, the SEP is violated by interactions which explicitly involve the curvature, such as those occurring in the quantum Drummond-Hathrell action and the consequent modified light cones.

We discuss below the question of whether this specific realisation of superluminal propagation is in conflict with causality, using the concept of stable causality described in ref.. Notice though that by violating the SEP, we have evaded the necessary association of superluminal motion with causality violation that held in special relativity. Referring back to the figures, what is established is the existence of a signal of type OA, which as we saw, does not by itself imply problems with causality even though frames such as $`𝒮^{}`$ exist locally with respect to which motion is backwards in time. However, since the SEP is broken, even if a local frame exists in which the signal looks like OC, it does not follow that a return path CD is allowed. The signal propagation is fixed, determined locally by the spacetime curvature.

### 5.2 Stable Causality

One special case where causality is realised in a particularly simple way is in globally hyperbolic spacetimes, where the manifold admits a foliation into a set of spacelike Cauchy surfaces with fibres given by timelike geodesics. It is not hard to imagine that the same structure could be preserved using the effective metric $`G_{\mu \nu }`$ to define ‘spacelike’ or ‘timelike’, especially if $`G_{\mu \nu }`$ is only perturbatively different from the actual spacetime metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$. But this would be a global question and the preservation of global hyperbolicity is not a priori guaranteed.

The clearest criterion for causality in general involves the concept of stable causality discussed, for example, in the monograph of Hawking and Ellis  (see also ). Proposition 6.4.9 states the required definition and theorem:

$``$ A spacetime manifold $`(,g_{\mu \nu })`$ is stably causal if the metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ has an open neighbourhood such that $``$ has no closed timelike or null curves with respect to any metric belonging to that neighbourhood.

$``$ Stable causality holds everywhere on $``$ if and only if there is a globally defined function $`f`$ whose gradient $`D_\mu f`$ is everywhere non-zero and timelike with respect to $`g_{\mu \nu }`$.

According to this theorem, the absence of causality violation in the form of closed timelike or lightlike curves is assured if we can find a globally defined function $`f`$ whose gradient is timelike with respect to the effective metric $`G_{\mu \nu }`$ for light propagation. $`f`$ then acts as a global time coordinate.

We can immediately give one example where this condition does hold. This is the FRW spacetime discussed in section 4.2. In this case, the effective metric (in the unperturbed orthonormal frame) is given by (33). We simply use the cosmological time coordinate $`t`$ as the globally defined function $`f`$. We need only then check that $`D_\mu t`$ defines a timelike vector with respect to the effective metric $`G_{\mu \nu }`$. This is true provided $`G_{00}>0`$, which is certainly satisfied by Eq.(33). So at least in this case, superluminal propagation is compatible with causality.

## 6 Gravity’s Rainbow

So far, our discussion of photon propagation has been based on the low-frequency approximation arising from the effective action (16). However, we know that this cannot be the whole story. In this section, we investigate dispersion – how the speed of light depends on its frequency – and explain carefully why the high-frequency limit is critical for causality. We begin with a review of some basic properties of light propagation in classical optics.

### 6.1 The ‘Speeds of Light’

An illuminating discussion of wave propagation in a simple dispersive medium is given in the classic work by Brillouin . This considers propagation of a sharp-fronted pulse of waves in a medium with a single absorption band, with refractive index $`n(\omega )`$:

$$n^2(\omega )=1\frac{a^2}{\omega ^2\omega _0^2+2i\omega \rho }$$
(39)
where $`a,\rho `$ are constants and $`\omega _0`$ is the characteristic frequency of the medium. Five333In fact, if we take into account the distinction discussed in section 4 between the phase velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}`$ and the ray velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ray}}`$, and include the fundamental speed of light constant $`c`$ from the Lorentz transformations, we arrive at seven distinct definitions of ‘speed of light’. distinct velocities are identified: the phase velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}=\frac{\omega }{|\underset{¯}{k}|}=\mathrm{}\frac{1}{n(\omega )}`$, group velocity $`v_{\mathrm{gp}}=\frac{d\omega }{d|\underset{¯}{k}|}`$, signal velocity $`v_{\mathrm{sig}}`$, energy-transfer velocity $`v_{\mathrm{en}}`$ and wavefront velocity $`v_{\mathrm{wf}}`$, with precise definitions related to the behaviour of contours and saddle points in the relevant Fourier integrals in the complex $`\omega `$-plane. Their frequency dependence is illustrated in Fig. 4.

As the pulse propagates, the first disturbances to arrive are very small amplitude waves, ‘frontrunners’, which define the wavefront velocity $`v_{\mathrm{wf}}`$. These are followed continuously by waves with amplitudes comparable to the initial pulse; the arrival of this part of the complete waveform is identified in ref. as the signal velocity $`v_{\mathrm{sig}}`$. As can be seen from Fig. 4, it essentially coincides with the more familiar group velocity for frequencies far from $`\omega _0`$, but gives a much more intuitively reasonable sense of the propagation of a signal than the group velocity, whose behaviour in the vicinity of an absorption band is relatively eccentric.

In passing, notice that it is the group velocity which is measured in quantum optics experiments which find light speeds of essentially zero  or many times $`c`$ . For example, in the experiments of Vestergaard Hau and colleagues at Harvard, the group velocity of a light pulse is reduced almost to zero by shining tuned lasers on a cloud of ultra-cold sodium atoms. The set-up is designed to produce an effective refractive index of the cloud of the form shown in Fig. 5. A very clear explanation of how this is achieved by manipulating the states of the sodium atoms in the gas cloud and exploiting quantum superposition is given in ref.. Now, some simple algebra shows that the group velocity can be expressed in terms of the slope of the refractive index: $`v_{\mathrm{gp}}=\left(n+\omega \frac{dn}{d\omega }\right)^1`$. The group velocity therefore becomes small in a region where the slope of the refractive index is large. In the ‘slow-light’ experiments, the central section of the curve $`n(\omega )`$ in Fig. 5 is made as steep as possible and the frequency of the probe laser tuned to this frequency range, forcing the group velocity towards zero.

Returning to Fig. 4, it is clear that the phase velocity itself also does not represent a ‘speed of light’ relevant for considerations of signal propagation or causality. The appropriate velocity to define light cones and causality is in fact the wavefront velocity $`v_{\mathrm{wf}}`$. (Notice that in Fig. 4, $`v_{\mathrm{wf}}`$ is a constant, equal to $`c`$, independent of the frequency or details of the absorption band.) This is determined by the boundary between the regions of zero and non-zero disturbance (more generally, a discontinuity in the first or higher derivative of the field) as the pulse propagates. Mathematically, this definition of wavefront is identified with the characteristics of the partial differential equation governing the wave propagation . Our problem is therefore to determine the velocity associated with the characteristics of the wave operator derived from the modified Maxwell equations of motion appropriate to the new effective action.

Notice that a very complete and rigorous discussion of the wave equation in curved spacetime has already been given in the monograph by Friedlander, in which it is proved (Theorem 3.2.1) that the characteristics are simply the null hypersurfaces of the spacetime manifold, in other words that the wavefront always propagates with the fundamental speed $`c`$. However, this discussion assumes the standard form of the (gauge-fixed) Maxwell wave equation and does not cover the modified wave equation (18), precisely because of the extra curvature couplings which lead to the effective metric $`G_{\mu \nu }`$ and superluminal propagation.

### 6.2 Characteristics and Wavefronts

Instead, the key result which allows a derivation of the wavefront velocity is derived by Leontovich . In this paper444I am very grateful to A. Dolgov, V. Khoze and I. Khriplovich for their help in obtaining and interpreting ref.., an elegant proof is presented for a very general set of PDEs that the wavefront velocity associated with the characteristics is identical to the $`\omega \mathrm{}`$ limit of the phase velocity, i.e.

$$v_{\mathrm{wf}}=\underset{\omega \mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{\omega }{|\underset{¯}{k}|}=\underset{\omega \mathrm{}}{lim}v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\omega )$$
(40)
The proof is rather formal, but is of sufficient generality to apply to our discussion of photon propagation using the modified effective action of section 3. We reproduce the essential details below.

The first step is to recognise that any second order PDE can be written as a system of first order PDEs by considering the first derivatives of the field as independent variables. Thus, if for simplicity we consider a general second order wave equation for a field $`u(t,x)`$ in one space dimension, the system of PDEs we need to solve is

$$a_{ij}\frac{\varphi _j}{t}+b_{ij}\frac{\varphi _j}{x}+c_{ij}\varphi _j=0$$
(41)
where $`\varphi _i=\{u,\frac{u}{t},\frac{u}{x}\}`$.

Making the ‘geometric optics’ ansatz

$$\varphi _i=\phi _i\mathrm{exp}i(wtkx)$$
(42)
where the frequency-dependent phase velocity is $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(k)=\omega (k)/k`$, and substituting into Eq.(41) we find

$$\left(i\omega a_{ij}ikb_{ij}+c_{ij}\right)\phi _j=0$$
(43)
The condition for a solution,

$$\mathrm{det}\left[a_{ij}v_{\mathrm{ph}}(k)b_{ij}\frac{i}{k}c_{ij}\right]=0$$
(44)
then determines the phase velocity.

On the other hand, we need to find the characteristics of Eq.(41), i.e. curves $`𝒞`$ on which Cauchy’s theorem breaks down and the evolution is not uniquely determined by the initial data on $`𝒞`$. The derivatives of the field may be discontinuous across the characteristics and these curves are associated with the wavefronts for the propagation of a sharp-fronted pulse. The corresponding light rays are the ‘bicharacteristics’. (See, for example, ref. chapters 5.1, 6.1 for further discussion.)

We therefore consider a characteristic curve $`𝒞`$ in the $`(t,x)`$ plane separating regions where $`\varphi _i=0`$ (ahead of the wavefront) from $`\varphi _i0`$ (behind the wavefront). At a fixed point $`(t_0,x_0)`$ on $`𝒞`$, the absolute derivative of $`\varphi _i`$ along the curve, parametrised as $`x(t)`$, is just

$$\frac{d\varphi _i}{dt}=\frac{\varphi _i}{t}|_0+\frac{\varphi _i}{x}|_0\frac{dx}{dt}$$
(45)
where $`dx/dt=v_{\mathrm{wf}}`$ gives the wavefront velocity. Using this to eliminate $`\frac{\varphi _i}{t}`$ from the PDE Eq.(41) at $`(t_0,x_0)`$, we find

$$\left(a_{ij}\frac{dx}{dt}+b_{ij}\right)\frac{\varphi _j}{x}|_0+a_{ij}\frac{d\varphi _j^{(0)}}{dt}+c_{ij}\varphi _j^{(0)}=0$$
(46)
Now since $`𝒞`$ is a wavefront, on one side of which $`\varphi _i`$ vanishes identically, the second two terms above must be zero. The condition for the remaining equation to have a solution is simply

$$\mathrm{det}\left[a_{ij}v_{\mathrm{wf}}b_{ij}\right]=0$$
(47)
which determines the wavefront velocity $`v_{\mathrm{wf}}`$. The proof is now evident. Comparing Eqs.(44) and (47), we clearly identify

$$v_{\mathrm{wf}}=v_{\mathrm{ph}}(k\mathrm{})$$
(48)
The wavefront velocity in a gravitational background is therefore not given a priori by $`c`$. Taking vacuum polarisation into account, there is no simple non-dispersive medium corresponding to the vacuum of classical Maxwell theory in which the phase velocity represents a true speed of propagation; for QED in curved spacetime, even the vacuum is dispersive. In order to discuss causality, we therefore have to extend the original Drummond-Hathrell results for $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\omega 0)`$ to the high frequency limit $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\omega \mathrm{})`$, as already emphasised in their original work.

A further subtle question arises if we write the standard dispersion relation for the refractive index $`n(\omega )`$ in the limit $`\omega \mathrm{}`$:

$$n(\mathrm{})=n(0)\frac{2}{\pi }_0^{\mathrm{}}\frac{d\omega }{\omega }\mathrm{}n(\omega )$$
(49)
For a conventional dispersive medium, $`\mathrm{}n(\omega )>0`$, which implies that $`n(\mathrm{})<n(0)`$, or equivalently $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\mathrm{})>v_{\mathrm{ph}}(0)`$. Evidently this is satisfied by Fig. 4. The key question though is whether the usual assumption of positivity of $`\mathrm{}n(\omega )`$ holds in the present situation of the QED vacuum in a gravitational field. If so, then (as already noted in ref.) the superluminal Drummond-Hathrell results for $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(0)`$ would actually be lower bounds on the all-important wavefront velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\mathrm{})`$. However, it is not clear that positivity of $`\mathrm{}n(\omega )`$ holds in the gravitational context. Indeed it has been explicitly criticised by Dolgov and Khriplovich in refs., who point out that since gravity is an inhomogeneous medium in which beam focusing as well as diverging can happen, a growth in amplitude corresponding to $`\mathrm{}n(\omega )<0`$ is possible. The possibility of $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\mathrm{})<v_{\mathrm{ph}}(0)`$, and in particular $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\mathrm{})=c`$, therefore does not seem to be convincingly ruled out by the dispersion relation Eq.(49).

### 6.3 Light in Magnetic Fields

Before confronting the gravitational case, we can build up some intuition on dispersion by looking at a closely related situation – the propagation of light through a background magnetic field. In this case, the analogue of the low-frequency, weak-field Drummond-Hathrell action for gravity is the Euler-Heisenberg action:

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=𝑑x\left[\frac{1}{4}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }+\frac{1}{m^4}\left(pF_{\mu \nu }F_{\lambda \rho }F^{\mu \lambda }F^{\nu \rho }+q\left(F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\right)^2\right)\right]$$
(50)
where $`p=\frac{7}{90}\alpha ^2`$ and $`q=\frac{1}{36}\alpha ^2`$. For a constant magnetic field, a familiar geometric optics analysis produces the following results for the phase velocity of photons moving transverse to the background field:

$$k^2+\frac{8}{m^2}[(2p+4q)_{},p_{}]T_{\mu \nu }k^\mu k^\nu =0$$
(51)
where $`T_{\mu \nu }=F_\mu {}_{}{}^{\lambda }F_{\lambda \nu }^{}\frac{1}{4}g_{\mu \nu }F_{\lambda \rho }F^{\lambda \rho }`$ is the electromagnetic energy-momentum tensor and the suffices $``$,$``$ indicate the two polarisations. This should be compared with Eq.(26) for the gravitational case. Notice that for electromagnetism, birefringence appears already in the energy-momentum tensor term, essentially because the lowest order terms in the Euler-Heisenberg action contributing to (51) are of 4th order in the background fields, i.e. $`O(F^4)`$, compared to the 3rd order terms of $`O(RFF)`$ in the Drummond-Hathrell action. Substituting for $`p`$,$`q`$ we find the well-known results for the low-frequency limit of the phase velocity:

$$v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\omega 0)1\frac{\alpha }{4\pi }\left(\frac{eB}{m}\right)^2[\frac{14}{45}_{},\frac{8}{45}_{}]$$
(52)
As expected, $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}<1`$ for both polarisations.

The refractive index for photons of arbitrary frequency has been calculated explicitly by Tsai and Erber . They derive an effective action

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=𝑑x\left[\frac{1}{4}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }+\frac{1}{2}A^\mu M_{\mu \nu }A^\nu \right]$$
(53)
where $`M_{\mu \nu }`$ is a differential operator acting on the electromagnetic field $`A^\nu `$. Writing the corresponding equation of motion and making the geometric optics ansatz as usual, we find the light cone condition

$$k^2M_{\mu \nu }(k)a^\mu a^\nu =0$$
(54)
Denoting $`M_{\mu \nu }a^\mu a^\nu `$ by $`M_{},M_{}`$ for the two polarisations, the complete expression for the birefringent refractive index is:

$`v_{\mathrm{ph},}(\omega )`$ $`=`$ $`1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\omega ^2}}M_,`$ (55)
$`=`$ $`1+{\displaystyle \frac{\alpha }{4\pi }}\left({\displaystyle \frac{eB}{m^2}}\right)^2{\displaystyle _1^1}𝑑u{\displaystyle _0^{\mathrm{}}}𝑑ssN_,(u,z)e^{is\left(1+s^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2P(u,z)\right)}`$
where $`z=\frac{eB}{m^2}s`$ and $`\mathrm{\Omega }=\frac{eB}{m^2}\frac{\omega }{m}`$. The functions $`N`$ and $`P`$ are given by:

$$P(u,z)=\frac{1}{z^2}\left(\frac{\mathrm{cos}zu\mathrm{cos}z}{2z\mathrm{sin}z}\frac{1u^2}{4}\right)=\frac{1}{12}(1u^2)+O(z^2)$$
(56)
and

$`N_{}`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cot}z}{2z}}\left(1u^2+{\displaystyle \frac{u\mathrm{sin}zu}{\mathrm{sin}z}}\right)+{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{cos}zu}{2z\mathrm{sin}z}}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}(1u^2)(1{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}u^2)+O(z^2)`$
$`N_{}`$ $`={\displaystyle \frac{z\mathrm{cos}zu}{2\mathrm{sin}z}}+{\displaystyle \frac{zu\mathrm{cot}z\mathrm{sin}zu}{2\mathrm{sin}z}}+{\displaystyle \frac{z(\mathrm{cos}zu\mathrm{cos}z)}{\mathrm{sin}^2z}}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}(1u^2)(1+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{3}}u^2)+O(z^2)`$ (57)
In the weak field, low frequency limit, we can disregard the function $`P`$ and consider only the lowest term in the expansion of $`N`$ in powers of $`z`$. This reproduces the results for $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\omega 0)`$ shown in Eq.(52). The weak field, high frequency limit is analysed in ref.. It is shown that

$$v_{\mathrm{ph},}(\omega \mathrm{})1+\frac{\alpha }{4\pi }\left(\frac{eB}{m}\right)^2[c_{},c_{}]\mathrm{\Omega }^{\frac{4}{3}}$$
(58)
where the numerical constants are $`[c_{},c_{}]=\frac{3^43^{\frac{1}{3}}}{7}\sqrt{\pi }\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{2}{3})^2\left(\mathrm{\Gamma }(\frac{1}{6})\right)^1[3_{},2_{}]`$.

The complete frequency dependence of $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\omega )`$, or equivalently $`n(\omega )`$, is therefore known and shows exactly the features found in the simple absorption model described above. In particular, the phase velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\omega )`$ begins less than 1 at low frequencies, showing birefringence but conventional subluminal behaviour. In the high frequency limit, however, the phase velocity approaches $`c`$ from the superluminal side with a $`\omega ^{\frac{4}{3}}`$ behaviour.

The origin of this non-analytic high-frequency behaviour is of particular interest. It arises from the phase factor $`\mathrm{exp}\left[is^3\mathrm{\Omega }^2P(u,z)\right]`$ in the effective action. The absorption resonance region in the graph of the refractive index $`n(\omega )`$ occurs for frequencies $`\omega `$ such that $`\mathrm{\Omega }1`$. For high frequencies, even at weak fields, we need $`\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{}`$. Clearly, these aspects of the behaviour of $`n(\omega )`$ are invisible to a simple expansion of the effective action in low powers of the field strength $`B`$, even keeping terms of all orders in derivatives. The conclusion is that a complete analysis of resonant and high frequency propagation requires the evaluation of the non-perturbative (in a field strength expansion) phase factor in Eq.(55). As we now see, this poses severe problems for the analysis of high frequency propagation in the case of a background gravitational field.

### 6.4 Dispersion and Gravity

Setting aside this concern for the moment, we now return to gravity and begin our study of dispersion by constructing the generalisation of the Drummond-Hathrell effective action containing all orders in derivatives, while retaining only terms of $`O(RFF)`$ in the curvature and field strength. This action was recently derived in ref.. The result is:

$`\mathrm{\Gamma }={\displaystyle }dx\sqrt{g}[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{m^2}}(D_\mu F^{\mu \lambda }\stackrel{}{G_0}D_\nu F^\nu _\lambda `$
$`+\stackrel{}{G_1}RF_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }+\stackrel{}{G_2}R_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \lambda }F^\nu {}_{\lambda }{}^{}+\stackrel{}{G_3}R_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }F^{\mu \nu }F^{\lambda \rho })`$
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{m^4}}(\stackrel{}{G_4}RD_\mu F^{\mu \lambda }D_\nu F^\nu {}_{\lambda }{}^{}+\stackrel{}{G_9}R_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }D_\sigma F^{\sigma \rho }D^\lambda F^{\mu \nu }`$
$`+\stackrel{}{G_5}R_{\mu \nu }D_\lambda F^{\lambda \mu }D_\rho F^{\rho \nu }+\stackrel{}{G_6}R_{\mu \nu }D^\mu F^{\lambda \rho }D^\nu F_{\lambda \rho }`$
$`+\stackrel{}{G_7}R_{\mu \nu }D^\mu D^\nu F^{\lambda \rho }F_{\lambda \rho }+\stackrel{}{G_8}R_{\mu \nu }D^\mu D^\lambda F_{\lambda \rho }F^{\rho \nu })]`$ (59)
This was found by adapting a background field action valid to third order in generalised curvatures due to Barvinsky, Gusev, Zhytnikov and Vilkovisky  (see also ref.) and involves re-expressing their more general result in manifestly local form by an appropriate choice of basis operators.

In this formula, the $`\stackrel{}{G_n}`$ ($`n1`$) are form factor functions of three operators:

$$\stackrel{}{G_n}G_n(\frac{D_{(1)}^2}{m^2},\frac{D_{(2)}^2}{m^2},\frac{D_{(3)}^2}{m^2})$$
(60)
where the first entry ($`D_{(1)}^2`$) acts on the first following term (the curvature), etc. $`\stackrel{}{G_0}`$ is similarly defined as a single variable function. These form factors are found using heat kernel methods and are given by ‘proper time’ integrals of known algebraic functions. Their explicit expressions can be found in ref.. Evidently, Eq.(59) reduces to the Drummond-Hathrell action if we neglect all the higher order derivative terms.

The next step is to derive the equation of motion analogous to Eq.(18) from this generalised effective action and to apply geometric optics to find the corresponding light cone. This requires a very careful analysis of the relative orders of magnitudes of the various contributions to the equation of motion arising when the factors of $`D^2`$ in the form factors act on the terms of $`O(RF)`$. These subtleties are explained in detail in ref.. The final result for the new effective light cone has the form

$$k^2\frac{8\pi }{m^2}F\left(\frac{k.D}{m^2}\right)T_{\mu \lambda }k^\mu k^\lambda +\frac{1}{m^2}G\left(\frac{k.D}{m^2}\right)C_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }k^\mu k^\lambda a^\nu a^\rho =0$$
(61)
where $`F`$ and $`G`$ are known functions with well-understood asymptotic properties . Clearly, for agreement with Eq.(16), we have $`F(0)=2b+4c`$, $`G(0)=8c`$.

The novel feature of this new light cone condition is that $`F`$ and $`G`$ are functions of the operator $`k.D`$ acting on the Ricci and Riemann tensors.555Note that because these corrections are already of $`O(\alpha )`$, we can freely use the usual Maxwell relations $`k.Dk^\nu =0`$ and $`k.Da^\nu =0`$ in these terms; we need only consider the effect of the operator $`k.D`$ acting on $`R_{\mu \nu }`$ and $`R_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }`$. So although the asymptotic behaviour of $`F`$ and $`G`$ as functions is known, this information is not really useful unless the relevant curvatures are eigenvalues of the operator. On the positive side, however, $`k.D`$ does have a clear geometrical interpretation – it simply describes the variation along a null geodesic with tangent vector $`k^\mu `$.

The utility of this light cone condition therefore seems to hinge on what we know about the variations along null geodesics of the Ricci and Riemann (or Weyl) tensors. Unfortunately, we have been unable to find any results in the general relativity literature which are valid in a general spacetime. To try to build some intuition, we have therefore again looked at particular cases. The most interesting example in this case is photon propagation in the Bondi-Sachs metric  which we recently studied in detail .

The Bondi-Sachs metric describes the gravitational radiation from an isolated source. The metric is

$$ds^2=Wdu^22e^{2\beta }dudr+r^2h_{ij}(dx^iU^idu)(dx^jU^jdu)$$
(62)
where

$$h_{ij}dx^idx^j=\frac{1}{2}(e^{2\gamma }+e^{2\delta })d\theta ^2+2\mathrm{sinh}(\gamma \delta )\mathrm{sin}\theta d\theta d\varphi +\frac{1}{2}(e^{2\gamma }+e^{2\delta })\mathrm{sin}^2\theta d\varphi ^2$$
(63)
The metric is valid in the vicinity of future null infinity $`^+`$. The family of hypersurfaces $`u=const`$ are null, i.e. $`g^{\mu \nu }_\mu u_\nu u=0`$. Their normal vector $`\mathrm{}_\mu `$ satisfies

$$\mathrm{}_\mu =_\mu u\mathrm{}^2=0,\mathrm{}^\mu D_\mu \mathrm{}^\nu =0$$
(64)
The curves with tangent vector $`\mathrm{}^\mu `$ are therefore null geodesics; the coordinate $`r`$ is a radial parameter along these rays and is identified as the luminosity distance. The six independent functions $`W,\beta ,\gamma ,\delta ,U^i`$ characterising the metric have expansions in $`\frac{1}{r}`$ in the asymptotic region near $`^+`$, the coefficients of which describe the various features of the gravitational radiation.

In the low frequency limit, the light cone is given simply by Eq.(26) with $`T_{\mu \nu }=0`$. The velocity shift is quite different for the case of outgoing and incoming photons . For outgoing photons, $`k^\mu =\omega \mathrm{}^\mu `$, and the light cone, written in Newman-Penrose notation666Details of the Newman-Penrose formalism can be found, e.g., in refs.. The essential idea is to construct a basis of null vectors $`\mathrm{}^\mu `$, $`n^\mu `$, $`m^\mu `$ and $`\overline{m}^\mu `$, and refer the components of the Ricci and Weyl tensors to this basis. The independent components of the Weyl tensor then form a set of 5 complex scalars, denoted $`\mathrm{\Psi }_0,\mathrm{},\mathrm{\Psi }_4`$. For example, $`\mathrm{\Psi }_0=C_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }\mathrm{}^\mu m^\nu \mathrm{}^\lambda m^\rho `$. In the example above, we identify the momentum direction for outgoing photons with $`\mathrm{}^\mu `$; $`m^\mu `$ is then the complex linear combination $`a_{}+ia_{}`$ of the physical transverse polarisations. is

$$k^2=\pm \frac{4c\omega ^2}{m^2}\left(\mathrm{\Psi }_0+\mathrm{\Psi }_0^{}\right)O\left(\frac{1}{r^5}\right)$$
(65)
while for incoming photons, $`k^\mu =\omega n^\mu `$,

$$k^2=\pm \frac{4c\omega ^2}{m^2}\left(\mathrm{\Psi }_4+\mathrm{\Psi }_4^{}\right)O\left(\frac{1}{r}\right)$$
(66)
Now, it is a special feature of the Bondi-Sachs spacetime that the absolute derivatives of each of the Weyl scalars $`\mathrm{\Psi }_0,\mathrm{},\mathrm{\Psi }_4`$ along the ray direction $`\mathrm{}^\mu `$ vanishes, i.e. $`\mathrm{\Psi }_0,\mathrm{},\mathrm{\Psi }_4`$ are parallel transported along the rays . In this case, therefore, we have:

$$\mathrm{}D\mathrm{\Psi }_0=0\mathrm{}D\mathrm{\Psi }_4=0$$
(67)
but there is no equivalent simple result for either $`nD\mathrm{\Psi }_4`$ or $`nD\mathrm{\Psi }_0`$.

Although it is just a special case, Eq.(67) nevertheless leads to a remarkable conclusion. The full light cone condition Eq.(61) applied to outgoing photons in the Bondi-Sachs spacetime now reduces to

$$k^2\pm \frac{\omega ^2}{2m^2}G\left(0\right)\left(\mathrm{\Psi }_0+\mathrm{\Psi }_0^{}\right)=0$$
(68)
since $`\mathrm{}D\mathrm{\Psi }_0=0`$. In other words, the low-frequency Drummond-Hathrell prediction of a superluminal phase velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(0)`$ is exact for all frequencies. There is no dispersion, and the wavefront velocity $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\mathrm{})`$ is indeed superluminal.

This is potentially a very important result. It appears to show that there is at least one example in which the wavefront truly propagates with superluminal velocity. If so, quantum effects would indeed have shifted the light cone into the geometrically spacelike region.

However, we now have to confront the problem raised above in the discussion of light propagation in background magnetic fields. If the gravitational case is similar, this would imply that the modified light cone can be written heuristically as

$$k^2+\frac{\alpha }{\pi }_0^{\mathrm{}}𝑑s𝒩(s,R)e^{is\left(1+s^2\mathrm{\Omega }^2𝒫(s,R)\right)}=0$$
(69)
where both $`𝒩`$ and $`𝒫`$ can be expanded in powers of curvature, and derivatives of curvature, presumably associated with factors of $`\omega `$ as in the last section. The frequency dependent factor $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ would be $`\mathrm{\Omega }\frac{R}{m^2}\frac{\omega }{m}O(\frac{\lambda _c^3}{\lambda L^2})`$, where ‘$`R`$’ denotes some generic curvature component and $`L`$ is the typical curvature scale. If this is true, then an expansion of the effective action to $`O(RFF)`$, even including higher derivatives, would not be sufficient to reproduce the full, non-perturbative contribution $`\mathrm{exp}\left[is^3\mathrm{\Omega }^2𝒫\right]`$. The Drummond-Hathrell action would correspond to the leading order term in the expansion of Eq.(69) in powers of $`\frac{R}{m^2}`$ neglecting derivatives, while our improved effective action (59) sums up all orders in derivatives while retaining the restriction to leading order in curvature.

The omission of the non-perturbative contribution would be justified only in the limit of small $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, i.e. for $`\frac{\lambda _c^3}{\lambda L^2}1`$. Neglecting this therefore prevents us from accessing the genuinely high frequency limit $`\lambda 0`$ needed to find the asymptotic limit $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\mathrm{})`$ of the phase velocity. Moreover, assuming Eq.(69) is indeed on the right lines, it also seems inevitable that for high frequencies (large $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$) the rapid phase variation in the exponent will drive the entire heat kernel integral to zero, ensuring the wavefront velocity $`v_{\mathrm{wf}}=c`$.

At present, it is not clear how to make further progress. The quantum field theoretic calculation required to find such non-perturbative contributions to the effective action and confirm an $`\mathrm{exp}\left[is^3\mathrm{\Omega }^2𝒫\right]`$ structure in Eq.(69) appears difficult, although some technical progress in this area has been made recently in ref. and work in progress . One of the main difficulties is that since a superluminal effect requires some anisotropy in the curvature, it is not sufficient just to consider constant curvature spacetimes. (Recall that the Ricci scalar term in the effective action (16) does not contribute to the modified light cone (19).) A possible approach to this problem, which would help to control the plethora of indices associated with the curvatures, might be to reformulate the heat kernel calculations directly in the Newman-Penrose basis. On the other hand, perhaps a less ambitious goal would be to try to determine just the asymptotic form of the non-perturbative contribution in the $`\mathrm{\Omega }\mathrm{}`$ limit.

A final resolution of the dispersion problem for QED in curved spacetime has therefore still to be found. At present, the most likely scenario appears to be that high-frequency dispersion is driven by non-perturbative contributions to the effective action such that the wavefront velocity remains precisely $`c`$. It would then be interesting to see exactly how the phase velocity behaves as a function of $`\omega `$. What we have established is that for ‘sub-resonant’ frequencies the phase velocity may, depending on the polarisation, take both the conventional form of Fig. 4 or the superluminal mirror image where $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(0)>1`$. We have even seen in the Bondi-Sachs example a special case where $`v_{\mathrm{ph}}(\omega )\mathrm{const}>1`$ for relatively low frequencies.

However, even if this picture is correct and the light cone is eventually driven back to $`k^2=0`$ in the high frequency limit, the analysis described here still represents a crucial extension of the domain of validity of the superluminal velocity prediction of Drummond and Hathrell. Recall from section 4.3 that the constraint on the frequency for which the superluminal effect is in principle observable is $`\frac{\lambda _c^2}{\lambda L}1`$. Obviously this was not satisfied by the original $`\omega 0`$ derivation. However, our extension based on the generalised effective action (59) does satisfy this constraint. Combining with the restriction $`\frac{\lambda _c^3}{\lambda L^2}1`$ in which the neglect of the $`𝒫`$ type corrections is justified, we see that there is a frequency range

$$\frac{\lambda _c}{L}\frac{\lambda }{\lambda _c}\frac{\lambda _c^2}{L^2}$$
(70)
below the ‘resonance’ region of Fig. 4, for which our expression (61) for the modified light cone is valid and predicts in principle observable effects.

Since this formula allows superluminal corrections to both the phase and the signal velocities, we conclude that superluminal propagation has indeed been established as an observable phenomenon even if, as seems likely, causality turns out to respected through the restoration of the standard light cone $`k^2=0`$ in the asymptotic high frequency limit.

## 7 Speculations

In this paper, we have reviewed some of the qualitatively new phenomena that occur when quantum theory is introduced into the already rich field of gravitational optics. The picture that arises is of curved spacetime as an optical medium, characterised by a novel refractive index and displaying polarisation-dependent properties such as birefringence.

Naturally, since these phenomena arise due to intrinsically quantum field theoretic processes such as vacuum polarisation, they are extremely small for the curvatures typical of present day astrophysics. A typical order of magnitude for the shift in the speed of light around a black hole, for example, is $`O\left(\alpha m_{pl}^4/(m^2M^2)\right)`$, where $`m`$ is the electron mass setting the scale for vacuum polarisation and $`M`$ is the black hole mass. Quantum gravitational optics (QGO) is therefore only likely to play an important role in situations of extreme, quantum-scale, curvature such as may be present in the very early universe or in the vicinity of primordial black holes. Its main interest, as in the analogous case of Hawking radiation, is likely to be primarily conceptual.

Indeed, serious conceptual issues do arise through the apparent prediction in certain circumstances of a superluminal speed of light. We have explained carefully how this occurs and discussed the subtle questions of interpretation that arise. Although further work remains to be done to achieve a full understanding, it appears that despite an anomalous refractive index featuring a superluminal low-frequency phase (and signal) velocity, the critical high-frequency limit which determines the characteristics or wavefront velocity remains equal to $`c`$. Nonetheless, we described how superluminal velocities could be accommodated in the framework of general relativity while preserving the essential notion of stable causality.

All this work was within the relatively uncontroversial theoretical formalism of quantum electrodynamics in curved spacetime. To close, we give a brief survey of other more speculative ideas in the current literature which overlap in some way with the ideas presented here.

First, we should note that everything that has been said about the QED effective action arises equally in the low-energy effective actions derived from string theory. SEP-violating interactions of $`O(RFF)`$ naturally occur there too, with the main difference that the electron scale $`m`$ becomes the Planck mass $`m_{pl}`$. Evidently this simply reduces the relative order of magnitude by another huge factor.

One of the key insights in the theory presented here is that in QGO the usual light cone relation for the photon momentum becomes

$$G_{\mu \nu }p^\mu p^\nu =0$$
(71)
That is, the propagation of real photons is governed by a new metric $`G_{\mu \nu }`$, which may in general depend not only on the curvature and its derivatives but also on the photon direction, polarisation and energy. The physical light cones are then distinct from the geometric null cones characterised by the spacetime metric $`g_{\mu \nu }`$. This realisation of QGO is therefore intrinsically a $`\mathrm{𝑏𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐}`$ theory.

Inspired by this, it is interesting to speculate on modifications to conventional general relativity in which a bimetric structure is imposed a priori. Phenomenologically, this has the advantage that the new scale characterising the propagation metric can be a free parameter, with the result that the type of phenomena discussed here could occur on macroscopically accessible scales. As a result, there is a strong motivation to search for unusual velocity or polarisation dependent phenomena in light signals from cosmological sources. Bimetric theories have a long history, with a particularly elegant recent construction due to Drummond , who has proposed an extension of general relativity in which matter couples to its own vierbein, which is rotated relative to the geometric vierbein according to an appropriate sigma model dynamics. By modifying gravitational dynamics on an astrophysical scale, such theories have the potential to offer an alternative to dark matter models. Other recent work exploiting bimetric theories to resolve cosmological puzzles can be found in a series of papers on scalar-tensor gravity by Clayton and Moffat .

These theories modify general relativity, and by incorporating a bimetric structure they necessarily involve a varying speed of light (VSL). VSL theories and their potential for providing an alternative to inflation as a resolution of cosmological problems such as the horizon problem have seen a rapid rise in popularity in recent years. A small selection of relevant papers is included here as an introduction to this literature for the interested reader .

The QED version of QGO discussed in this paper, and some of the bimetric models, preserve the essential principles of general relativity, especially the weak equivalence principle and local Lorentz invariance. We can of course speculate that local Lorentz invariance itself may be violated. A phenomenological approach to such theories has been pioneered by Kostelecky, who has constructed a general extension to the standard model incorporating Lorentz and CPT violating interactions and investigating their experimental consequences . Of particular interest here are the following interactions, which affect the propagation of light:

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{M}+𝑑x\left[\frac{1}{4}K_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }F^{\mu \nu }F^{\lambda \rho }+\frac{1}{2}L^\mu ϵ_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }A^\nu F^{\lambda \rho }\right]$$
(72)
Here, $`K`$ and $`L`$ are Lorentz-violating couplings, which could arise as VEVs in some more fundamental theory exhibiting spontaneous Lorentz breaking. Evidently, the first of these interactions is the analogue of the SEP-violating interaction considered in this paper, with the replacement of the covariant curvature tensor $`R_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }`$ by the coupling $`K_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }`$. The phenomenology of light propagation, and some (though not all) of the considerations concerning causality discussed here therefore apply directly to this class of Lorentz-violating theory. The CPT violating Chern-Simons interaction does not of course arise in QED, though it can be induced by anomalies involving spacetime topology . The Kostelecky lagrangian has been used as a phenomenological model against which to put limits on the magnitude of VSL, polarisation-dependent or Lorentz-violating effects in light propagation. Since a birefringent speed of light would cause a rotation of the polarisation of light as it travels through space, the observation of polarisation from distant quasars and radio galaxies, and also recent measurements of CMB polarisation, can be used to place limits on the phenomenological couplings $`K`$ and $`L`$. Details of this work can be found in ref.. Similar interactions are induced also in non-commutative gauge theories as a consequence of the Moyal product, with similar phenomenological implications. Here, the analogue of the coupling $`K_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }`$ is constructed from the non-commutativity parameter $`\theta _{\mu \nu }`$ defined from $`[x^\mu ,x^\nu ]=i\theta ^{\mu \nu }`$.

Of course, once we permit models with more or less ad hoc Lorentz violation, then we are free to speculate at will as to alternative dispersion relations for the propagation of light, or indeed neutrinos. Some recent popular models invoke a supposed non-realisation of Lorentz invariance in the effective low-energy field theory derived from quantum gravity , non-linear realisations of Lorentz symmetry preserving the Planck length as an invariant , so-called ‘doubly special’ relativity , etc. Evidently, there is immense freedom to frame such models within the constraints of experimental data though it is far less clear how to incorporate them into complete theories consistent with our understanding of unified theories of particle physics and quantum gravity. On the experimental side, particular interest attaches to light (or neutrinos) received from gamma-ray bursts, since the extremely high energies of the photons can enhance the size of the VSL effect for certain Lorentz-violating dispersion relations.

This rapid tour of admittedly rather speculative models is hopefully sufficient to indicate the considerable current interest in looking for anomalies in the standard theory of light propagation in special and general relativity. However, as we have shown in this paper, it is not necessary to invoke ad hoc violations of the fundamental principles of quantum field theory, general relativity or string theory in order to discover a new richness of phenomena in the propagation of light. Whether its primary interest will lie in the conceptual issues it raises for the consistency of quantum field theory with gravity, or in the prediction of experimental anomalies in the speed of light in cosmology, the field of quantum gravitational optics is promised a bright future.

###### Acknowledgments.

I am especially grateful to I. Drummond for many interesting discussions on superluminal propagation and numerous other colleagues, including A. Dolgov, G. Gibbons, H. Gies, V. Khoze, S. King, K. Kunze, M. Maggiore, J. Magueijo, H.Osborn, W. Perkins, S. Sarkar and G. Veneziano, for their comments on this work. This research is supported in part by PPARC grant PP/G/O/2000/00448.