Asenjo, Felipe and Hojman, Sergio and Linnemann, Niels and Read, James (2023) Abnormal light signals and the underdetermination of theory by evidence in astrophysics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

We investigate the propagation of certain non-plane wave solutions to Maxwell's equations in both flat and curved spacetimes. We find that the effective signal velocity associated to such solutions need not be c and that the signal need not propagate along null geodesics; indeed, more than this, we find that the information encoded in the signals associated with such solutions can be substantially non-local. Having established these results, we then turn to their conceptual-philosophical-foundational significance---which, in brief, we take to be the following: (i) one should not
assume that all electromagnetic waves generated in the cosmos are localised plane wave packages; thus, (ii) one cannot assume that signals reaching us from the cosmos arrive with a particular velocity (namely, c), and that such signals encode local information regarding their sources; therefore (iii) astrophysicists and cosmologists should be wary about making such assumptions in their inferences from obtained data---for to do so may lead to incorrect inferences regarding the nature of our universe.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Asenjo, Felipe felipe.asenjo@uai.cl Hojman, Sergio sergio.hojman@uai.cl Linnemann, Niels nielslinnemann@aol.com 0000-0002-3695-8611 Read, James james.read@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Keywords:	underdetermination, theory-dependence, electromagnetism, signal velocity, Airy beam
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Astrophysics Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Depositing User:	Dr. James Read
Date Deposited:	16 May 2023 12:54
Last Modified:	16 May 2023 12:54
Item ID:	22106
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics > Astrophysics Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Date:	15 May 2023
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22106

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• Abnormal light signals and the underdetermination of theory by evidence in astrophysics. (deposited 16 May 2023 12:54) [Currently Displayed]
  • Abnormal light propagation and the underdetermination of theory by evidence in astrophysics. (deposited 15 Nov 2023 01:25)

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