Distance-redshift from an optical metric that includes absorption

Abstract

We show that it is possible to equate the intensity reduction of a light wave caused by weak absorption with a geometrical reduction in intensity caused by a "transverse" conformal transformation of the spacetime metric in which the wave travels. We are consequently able to modify Gordon's optical metric to account for electromagnetic properties of ponderable material whose properties include both refraction and absorption. Unlike refraction alone however, including absorption requires a modification of the optical metric that depends on the eikonal of the wave itself. We derive the distance-redshift relation from the modified optical metric for Friedman-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetimes whose cosmic fluid has associated refraction and absorption coefficients. We then fit the current supernovae data and provide an alternate explanation (other than dark energy) of the apparent acceleration of the universe.

2 figures

References in corpus (11)

• Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Three Year Results: Implications for Cosmology
• New Hubble Space Telescope Discoveries of Type Ia Supernovae at z > 1: Narrowing Constraints on the Early Behavior of Dark Energy
• Observational Constraints on the Nature of the Dark Energy: First Cosmological Results from the ESSENCE Supernova Survey
• Scrutinizing Exotic Cosmological Models Using ESSENCE Supernova Data Combined with Other Cosmological Probes
• Distinguishing Modified Gravity from Dark Energy
• Dark Energy versus Modified Gravity
• Is there Evidence for a Hubble bubble? The Nature of Type Ia Supernova Colors and Dust in External Galaxies
• The Impact of Cosmic Dust on Supernova Cosmology
• Including Absorption in Gordon's Optical Metric
• Cosmology With A Dark Refraction Index
• Redshift-distance relations from type Ia supernova observations. New constraints on grey dust models

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Model-independent constraints on the cosmic opacity
• Spinoptics in a stationary spacetime
• Deformed Distance Duality Relations and Supernovae Dimming
• Testing cosmic opacity from SNe Ia and Hubble parameter through three cosmological-model-independent methods
• Probing cosmic opacity at high redshifts with gamma-ray bursts
• Cosmic opacity: cosmological-model-independent tests and their impacts on cosmic acceleration
• Probing the cosmic opacity from Future Gravitational Wave Standard Sirens
• Searching for systematics in SNIa and galaxy cluster data using the cosmic duality relation
• Testing the cosmic conservation of photon number with type Ia supernovae and ages of old objects
• Exploring the potentiality of standard sirens to probe cosmic opacity at high redshifts
• General expansion of time transfer functions in optical spacetime
• X-ray surface brightness observations of galaxy clusters, cosmic opacity and the limits on the matter density parameter
• The role of elliptic integrals in calculating the gravitational lensing of a charged Weyl black hole surrounded by plasma