Light propagation in $$\kappa $$-Minkowski space-time: gauge ambiguities and invariance

Abstract We study the noncommutative U (1) gauge theory on the $$\kappa $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>κ</mml:mi> </mml:math> -Minkowski space-time at the semiclassical approximation. We construct exact solutions of the deformed Maxwell equations in vacuum, describing localized signals propagating in a given direction. The propagation velocity appears to be arbitrary. We figure out that the wave packets with different values of the propagation velocity are related by noncommutative gauge transformations. Moreover, we show that spatial distances between particles are gauge-dependent as well. We explain how these two gauge dependencies compensate each other, recovering gauge invariance of measurement results. According to our analysis, the gauge ambiguity of the speed of light can be absorbed into a redefinition of the unit of length and, therefore, cannot be measured experimentally.