Physics of mirror photons

The physics of kinetic mixing between ordinary and mirror photons is discussed. An important role is played by four linear combinations we dub the physical photon, the sterile photon, the physical mirror photon, and the sterile mirror photon. Because of the mass degeneracy between the two gauge bosons, quantum coherence effects are important. The physical photon becomes a certain coherent superposition of the bare ordinary photon and the bare mirror photon. Similarly, the physical mirror photon is another, but not orthogonal, coherent superposition. We discuss the physics of the interaction between physical mirror photons and ordinary matter. Observational signatures for some hybrid ordinary/mirror binary astrophysical systems are qualitatively discussed. We show that a small amount of ordinary matter at the center of a mirror star may make the mirror star observable. We speculate that the recently reported halo white dwarfs might actually be mirror halo stars. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.