Light-Cone Broadening and TeV Scale Extra Dimensions

Abstract

We examine the effect of light-cone broadening induced by quantum-gravity foam in the context of theories with ``large'' extra dimensions stretching between two parallel brane worlds. We consider the propagation of photon probes on one of the branes, including the response to graviton fluctuations, from both field- and string-theoretical viewpoints. In the latter approach, the dominant source of light-cone broadening may be the recoil of the D-brane, which scales linearly with the string coupling. Astrophysical constraints then place strong restrictions on consistent string models of macroscopic extra dimensions. The broadening we find in the field-theoretical picture seems to be close to the current sensitivity of gravity-wave interferometers, and therefore could perhaps be tested experimentally in the foreseeable future.