Light clocks in strong gravitational fields

Abstract

We argue that the time measured by a light clock operating with photons rather than classical light requires a refinement of the standard clock postulate in general relativity. In the presence of a gravitational field, already the one-loop quantum corrections to classical Maxwell theory affect light propagation and the construction of observers' frames of reference. Carefully taking into account these kinematic effects, a concise geometric expression for the time shown by a light clock is obtained. This result has far-reaching implications for physics in strong gravitational fields.