Related papers: k-Essence, superluminal propagation, causality and…
We demonstrate that if k-essence can solve the coincidence problem and play the role of dark energy in the universe, the fluctuations of the field have to propagate superluminally at some stage. We argue that this implies that successful…
Cosmological scenarios with k-essence are invoked in order to explain the observed late-time acceleration of the universe. These scenarios avoid the need for fine-tuned initial conditions (the "coincidence problem") because of the…
Field theories whose full action is Lorentz invariant (or diffeomorphism invariant) can exhibit superluminal behaviors through the breaking of local Lorentz invariance. Quantum induced superluminal velocities are well-known examples of this…
We argue that superluminal propagation in a gravitational field discovered by Drummond and Hathrell in the lowest order of perturbation theory remains intact in higher orders. The criticism of this result based on an exact calculation of…
There have been several experiments which hint at evidence for superluminal transport of electromagnetic energy through a material slab. On the theoretical side, it has appeared evident that acausal signals are indeed possible in quantum…
We consider a model of dark energy/matter unification based on a k-essence type of theory similar to tachyon condensate models. Using an extension of the general relativistic spherical model which incorporates the effects of both pressure…
A number of general issues relating to superluminal photon propagation in gravitational fields are explored. The possibility of superluminal, yet causal, photon propagation arises because of Equivalence Principle violating interactions…
Subhorizon approximation is often used in cosmological perturbation theory. In this paper, however, it is shown that the subhorizon approximation is not always a good approximation at least in case of $k$-essence model. We also show that…
It has been found in several papers that, because of quantum corrections, light front can propagate with superluminal velocity in gravitational fields and even in flat space-time across two conducting plates. We show that, if this is the…
We show that linear superpositions of plane waves involving a single-valued, covariantly stable dispersion relation $\omega(k)$ always propagate outside the lightcone, unless $\omega(k) =a+b k$. This implies that there is no notion of…
Contrary to mechanical waves, the two-slit interference experiment of single photons shows that the behavior of classical electromagnetic waves corresponds to the quantum mechanical one of single photons, which is also different from the…
It continues to be alleged that superluminal influences of any sort would be inconsistent with special relativity for the following three reasons: (i) they would imply the existence of a distinguished' frame; (ii) they would allow the…
We consider two examples of solutions of the equations of motion of scalar field theories with higher derivatives. These are the cosmology of the rolling tachyon and static spherically symmetric solutions of the scalar field in flat space.…
The expression of causality depends on an underlying choice of chronology. Since a chronology is provided by any Lorentzian metric in relativistic theories, there are as many expressions of causality as there are non-conformally related…
It is known that dynamical solutions of the $k$-essence equation of motion change the metric for the perturbations around these solutions and the perturbations propagate in an emergent spacetime with metric $\tilde G^{\mu\nu}$ different…
The causal properties of curved spacetime, which underpin our sense of time in gravitational theories, are defined by the null cones of the spacetime metric. In classical general relativity, it is assumed that these coincide with the light…
We study the vacuum Cauchy problem for K-essence, i.e. cosmologically relevant scalar-tensor theories that involve first-order derivative self-interactions, and which pass all existing gravitational wave bounds. We restrict to spherical…
Recently Dragan and Ekert [New. J. Phys 22, 033038, 2020] presented arguments that probabilistic dynamics inherent in the realm of quantum physics is related to the propagation of superluminal particles. Moreover they argue that existence…
In quantum theory, the curved spacetime of Einstein's general theory of relativity acts as a dispersive optical medium for the propagation of light. Gravitational rainbows and birefringence replace the classical picture of light rays…
The paper elucidates the physical basis of experimental results on superluminal signal velocity. It will be made plausible that superluminal signals do not violate the principle of causality but they can shorten the luminal vacuum time span…