The Pioneer riddle , the quantum vacuum and the acceleration of light Antonio

It is shown that the same phenomenological Newtonian model recently proposed by the author to explain the cosmological evolution of the fine structure constant suggests furthermore an explanation of the unmodelled acceleration aP ≃ 8.5 × 10 −10 m/s of the Pioneer 10/11 spaceships reported by Anderson et al in 1998. In the view presented here, it is argued that the permittivity and permeability of empty space are decreasing adiabatically, and the light is accelerating therefore, as a consequence of the progressive thinning down of the quantum vacuum due to the combined effect of its gravitational interaction with all the expanding universe and the fourth Heisenberg relation. It is suggested that the spaceships do not have any extra acceleration (but follow the unchanged Newton laws), the observed effect being due to an adiabatic acceleration of the light equal to aP , which has the same observational radio signature as the anomalous acceleration of the Pioneers. PACS numbers: 04.80. Cc, 95.35.+d, 95.55.Pe Introduction and purpose. In a previous paper [1], an explanation was proposed for the cosmological variation of the fine structure constant observed by Webb et al [2], which is based in the gravitational interaction ∗E-mail address: [email protected]