Upper bounds on the photon mass

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

The effects of a nonzero photon rest mass can be incorporated into electromagnetism in a simple way using the Proca equations. In this vein, two interesting implications regarding the possible existence of a massive photon in nature, i.e., tiny alterations in the known values of both the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron and the gravitational deflection of electromagnetic radiation, are utilized to set upper limits on its mass. The bounds obtained are not as stringent as those recently found; nonetheless, they are comparable to other existing bounds and bring new elements to the issue of restricting the photon mass.