Re-estimatation of the Upper Limit on the Photon Mass with the Solar Wind Method

• 来源期刊: 中国物理快报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2012,（11）
• 页码范围: 36-39
• 页数: 4页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1088/0256-307X/29/11/111401

摘要

The currently accepted value for the upper limit on the photon rest mass comes from a rough estimate based on the solar wind method.We reconsider this method and present a more detailed analysis of the electromagnetic fields in interplanetary space. The simple analytic expressions for the solar wind magnetic field,electric field and current are obtained with a finite photon mass. The upper limit on the photon mass is re-estimated as mγ ＜ 0.8 × 10-54 kg,which improves the current bound by up a factor of 2,and further confirms the reliability of the solar wind method.