Physics – General Physics
Scientific paper
2009-05-15
Int.J.Mod.Phys.D18:2243-2248,2009
Physics
General Physics
9 pages, 2 figures. Essay selected for "Honorable Mention" in the 2009 Awards for Essays on Gravitation (Gravity Research Foun
Scientific paper
10.1142/S0218271809015953
Is there an absolute cosmic electric potential?. The recent discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe could be indicating that this is certainly the case. In this essay we show that the consistency of the covariant and gauge invariant theory of electromagnetism is truly questionable when considered on cosmological scales. Out of the four components of the electromagnetic field, Maxwell's theory only contains two physical degrees of freedom. However, in the presence of gravity, one of the "unphysical" states cannot be consistently eliminated, thus becoming real. This third polarization state is completely decoupled from charged matter, but can be excited gravitationally thus breaking gauge invariance. On large scales the new state can be seen as a homogeneous cosmic electric potential, whose energy density behaves as a cosmological constant.
Jimenez Jose Beltran
Maroto Antonio L.
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