COSMIC BIREFRINGENCE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF HETEROTIC STRING THEORY

Abstract

Low energy string theory predicts the existence of an axion field which can lead to cosmic birefringence. We solve the electromagnetic wave equations in the presence of such an axion and a dilaton field in order to determine their effect on the polarization of light. We find that the presence of dilaton field leads to a nontrivial modification of the final result. We comment on the possibility of discovering such an effect by observations of radio wave polarizations from distant radio galaxies and quasars. We have also determined the limits on the string theory parameters that are imposed by the current radio polarization data.