It is shown that the interaction of the electromagnetic field with the vacuum of the electron-positron field gives rise to a dependence of the speed of light propagation on the radiation temperature. Estimates show that in the modern epoch, even at very high temperatures, for example, existing in star interiors, the temperature-dependent correction to the speed of light proves to be extremely small. However, in the cosmological model of the hot Universe, during the first moments after the Big Bang, the temperature is so high that the speed of light exceeds its present value by many orders of magnitude. The effect of the temperature dependence of the speed of light should be important for understanding the early evolution of the Universe.
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Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 10, pp. 16–25, October, 2021.
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Poluektov, Y.M. Temperature Dependence of the Speed of Equilibrium Radiation Propagation. Russ Phys J 64, 1797–1807 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11182-022-02522-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11182-022-02522-7