CMB Birefringence from Vacuum Interfaces

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11065v1
• Date: Mon, 11 May 2026 18:00:00 GMT
• Title: CMB Birefringence from Vacuum Interfaces
• Abstract summary: Hints of cosmic microwave background polarization rotation are commonly attributed to late-time dynamics of ultralight axions.<n>We show that such ultralight degrees of freedom are not required.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Hints of cosmic microwave background polarization rotation ($Δ\vartheta \sim 10^{-3}$ rad) are commonly attributed to late-time dynamics of ultralight axions. We show that such ultralight degrees of freedom are not required. Polarization rotation naturally arises as a geometric interface phase acquired when photons cross interfaces between topologically distinct dark sector vacua. The effect is a discrete phase shift fixed by the normalization of a wall-supported electromagnetic Chern--Simons interaction and protected by an emergent $1$-form symmetry of the low energy effective theory. This mechanism reproduces the familiar adiabatic rotation induced by light axion domain walls, but persists for arbitrarily thin walls where the axion is heavy or absent. In this regime the rotation manifests as a Pancharatnam phase localized at vacuum interfaces, independent of redshift and photon frequency below a natural ultraviolet cutoff. Cosmic birefringence thus emerges as a probe of vacuum structure in the dark sector, rather than of light-field dynamics.

Related papers

• Nonlinear Hall Effect in Altermagnetic Warped Topological Insulators [0.0]
  Low-dimensional Dirac systems offer a versatile platform for quantum-geometric non-linear transport.<n>We show that proximity-coupling a hexagonally warped TI to a d-wave altermagnet lifts spatial mirror symmetry.<n>Our findings highlight TI-altermagnet interfaces as ideal candidates for gate- and orientation-tunable quantum metric spintronics.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-09-15T11:09:49Z)
• Magnetic long-range order at finite temperature in two-dimensional hyperbolic lattices [45.88028371034407]
  Infrared singularities of gapless Goldstone modes preclude magnetic long-range order at finite temperature in conventional two-dimensional systems.<n>We find that the zero-energy collective modes required by symmetry carry vanishing local spectral weight.<n>We estimate the ordering temperature from the thermal spin-wave correction to the ordered moment.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-06-25T18:00:01Z)
• Rotational Vacuum Friction of Nonabsorbing Particles [46.07145155913717]
  A nonabsorbing particle rotating in vacuum can lose angular momentum only by converting mechanical energy into electromagnetic radiation.<n>At zero temperature, the frictional torque scales as $Mpropto7$ with rotation frequency $ Omega$ in anisotropic particles.<n>In contrast, axisymmetric particles are protected against photon-assisted friction regardless of temperature.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-06-23T15:47:57Z)
• Chiral Electromagnetic Surface Waves on Chern-Simons Interfaces [0.0]
  We show that Maxwell theory with a codimension-$1$ Chern-Simons interface supports chiral electromagnetic surface waves on the interface.<n>We find that the Chern-Simons interaction acts with opposite sign on the two helicities oriented along the interface, giving rise to one normalizable mode localized on the interface.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2026-05-20T18:00:00Z)
• Synthetic crystal rotation with spacetime metamaterials [49.1574468325115]
  We investigate light-matter interaction regimes accessed by synthetically rotating crystals.<n>Our results highlight the qualitatively different light-matter interaction regimes accessed by synthetically rotating crystals.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2025-06-03T06:20:27Z)
• Rotational Superradiance in a Time-Reversal Symmetry-Broken Quantum Gas inside an Optical Cavity [0.0]
  quantized vortices in a superfluid and a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) stem from their nontrivial response to broken time-reversal symmetry (TRS)<n>We show that breaking of the TRS by, for example, rotation or an external synthetic magnetic field in a transversely-driven BEC modifies drastically Dicke-superradiance and self-ordering phenomena in this system.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-04-15T20:41:24Z)
• Mode-multiplexing deep-strong light-matter coupling [0.0]
  We show a new regime of record-strong light-matter interaction which exploits the cooperative dipole moments of multiple, highly non-resonant magnetoplasmon modes. The extreme interaction drives strongly subcycle exchange of vacuum energy between multiple bosonic modes. This offers avenues towards tailoring phase transitions by coupling otherwise non-interacting modes.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-09-13T12:27:35Z)
• Atomic diffraction from single-photon transitions in gravity and Standard-Model extensions [49.26431084736478]
  We study single-photon transitions, both magnetically-induced and direct ones, in gravity and Standard-Model extensions. We take into account relativistic effects like the coupling of internal to center-of-mass degrees of freedom, induced by the mass defect.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-09-05T08:51:42Z)
• Searching for Ultra-Light Axions with Twisted Cavity Resonators of Anyon Rotational Symmetry with Bulk Modes of Non-Zero Helicity [0.0]
  M"obius-ring resonators stem from a well-studied and fascinating geometrical structure that features a one-sided topology. We present a new type of resonator through the formation of twisted hollow structures using equilateral triangular cross-sections.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-08-01T21:35:31Z)
• Ultrafast Coherence Delocalization in Real Space Simulated by Polaritons [2.332566368357145]
  We investigated coherence delocalization on a coupled-cavity molecular polariton platform in time, frequency, and spatial domains. Unidirectional coherence delocalization was observed in frequency and real spaces. This work also demonstrated a way of combining photon and molecular modes to simulate coherence dynamics.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-07-09T01:03:39Z)
• Photon-mediated interactions near a Dirac photonic crystal slab [68.8204255655161]
  We develop a theory of dipole radiation near photonic Dirac points in realistic structures. We find positions where the nature of the collective interactions change from being coherent to dissipative ones. Our results significantly improve the knowledge of Dirac light-matter interfaces.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-07-01T14:21:49Z)
• Continuum-electron interferometry for enhancement of photoelectron circular dichroism and measurement of bound, free, and mixed contributions to chiral response [39.58317527488534]
  We develop photoelectron interferometry based on laser-assisted extreme ultraviolet ionization for flexible and robust control of photoelectron circular dichroism in randomly oriented chiral molecules. A comb of XUV photons ionizes a sample of chiral molecules in the presence of a time-delayed infrared or visible laser pulse promoting interferences between components of the XUV-ionized photoelectron wave packet.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-04-15T15:20:57Z)
• Parallel dark soliton pair in a bistable 2D exciton-polariton superfluid [47.187609203210705]
  2D dark solitons are unstable and collapse into vortices due to snake instabilities. We demonstrate that a pair of dark solitons can be formed in the wake of an obstacle in a polariton flow resonantly supported by a homogeneous laser beam.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2020-03-25T13:52:22Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.