Gravity induced effective photon mass in the presence of gravity gradient

Abstract

Geometry and gravity induced effective photon mass is known to arise in many cases, such as various optical waveguides, Kaluza-Klein theories, and many other optical and general relativity situations. Here we study the appearance of effective photon mass in the Newtonian limit due to the presence of gravity gradient in a locally inertial reference frame. The effective photon mass squared appears to be proportional to the local gravity gradient, and it becomes tachyonic around unstable equilibrium locations. A similar effect is observed in the Kottler-Moller spacetime where the absolute value of the gravity-induced effective photon mass appears to coincide with the Unruh temperature. We demonstrate that similar to Unruh effect, a bath of thermal radiation is observed near the unstable equilibrium, which temperature is defined by the local gravity gradient, and which remains unchanged in the limit of infinite light velocity.