We consider the possibility that Lorentz violation can generate differences between the limiting velocities of light and charged matter. Such effects would lead to efficient vacuum Cherenkov radiation or rapid photon decay. The absence of such effects for 104.5 GeV electrons at the Large Electron Positron collider and for 300 GeV photons at the Tevatron therefore constrains this type of Lorentz breakdown. Within the context of the standard-model extension, these ideas imply an experimental bound at the level of -5.8 x 10^{-12} <= \tildeκ_{tr}-(4/3)c_e^{00} <= 1.2 x 10^{-11} tightening existing laboratory measurements by 3-4 orders of magnitude. Prospects for further improvements with terrestrial and astrophysical methods are discussed.
A theoretical framework extending QED in the context of the standard model is used to analyze a variety of Lorentz and CPT tests in atomic systems. Experimental signatures of possible Lorentz and CPT violation in these systems are investigated, and bounds are discussed.
A status report is given of some recent theoretical and experimental investigations looking for signals of Lorentz violation in QED. Experiments with light, charged particles, and atoms have exceptional sensitivity to small shifts in energy caused by Lorentz violation, including effects that could originate from new physics at the Planck scale.
The general features of renormalization and the renormalization group in QED and in general quantum field theories in curved spacetime with additional Lorentz- and CPT-violating background fields are reviewed.
An analysis of spinor redefinitions in the context of the Lorentz-violating QED extension is performed. Certain parameters that apparently violate Lorentz invariance are found to be physically irrelevant as they can be removed from the lagrangian using an appropriate redefinition of the spinor field components. It is shown that conserved currents may be defined using a modified action of the complex extension of the Lorentz group on the redefined spinors. This implies a natural correspondence between the apparently Lorentz-violating theory and conventional QED. Redefinitions involving derivati…
This talk summarizes some theoretical features and experimental implications of a general Lorentz-violating extension of the minimal SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) standard model that allows for both CPT-even and CPT-odd effects. The theory would arise as the low-energy limit of a fundamental theory that is Lorentz and CPT covariant but in which spontaneous Lorentz breaking occurs. The use of neutral-meson oscillations and various QED systems to bound the apparent CPT and Lorentz violations is described.
We consider Lorentz-violating operators induced at the loop level in softly-broken supersymmetric noncommutative QED. Dangerous operators forbidden in the supersymmetric limit are generated via finite corrections, with the scale of supersymmetry breaking serving as a gauge-invariant regulator. We compare the most dangerous loop effects to those obtained in noncommutative theories truncated by a momentum-space cutoff, and find significantly improved bounds.
I present a unified formulation of anomalous contributions in quantum field theories by calculating directly the effective action using the background field and covariant-derivative expansion technique. I use this method to determine uniquely the induced Chern-Simons term from the a Lorentz and CPT violating term in fermion QED Lagrangian. The outstanding ambiguity is resolved by properly taken into account the noncommutivity of $A$ and $\partial$. The resulting vacuum polarization tensor acquires a non-Feynman diagram anomalous contribution which accounts for the discrepancy between the prese…
Recently a version of Lorentz-conserving noncommutative field theory (NCFT) has been suggested. The underlying Lie algebra of the theory is the same as that of Doplicher, Fredenhagen, and Roberts. In Lorentz-conserving NCFT the matrix parameter {theta}^{mu nu} which characterizes the canonical NCFT's is promoted to an operator {theta hat}^{mu nu} that transforms as a Lorentz tensor. In this paper, we calculate phenomenological consequences of the QED version of this theory by looking at various collider processes. In particular we calculate modifications to Moller scattering, Bhabha scattering…
This paper investigates how the nonzero temperature affects the differential cross-section for mesons scattering in a Lorentz-violating extension of the scalar electrodynamics. We initially discuss some features of the model and extract the zero temperature Feynman rules. Temperature effects are introduced using the Thermo Field Dynamics (TFD) formalism. It is shown that the corrections induced on the meson scattering are very large in the high-temperature regime. Furthermore, our results also suggest that temperature effects may contribute to new constraints on the Lorentz-violating parameter…
We calculate higher-order quantum contributions in different Lorentz-violating parameters to the gauge sector of the extended QED. As a result of this one-loop calculation, some terms which do not produce first-order corrections, contribute with nontrivial gauge-invariant second-order quantum inductions.
We discuss the regularization and renormalization of QED with Lorentz and CPT violation, and argue that the coefficient of the Chern-Simons term is an independent parameter not determined by gauge invariance. We also study these issues in a model with spontaneous breaking of Lorentz and CPT symmetries and find an explicit relation with the ABJ anomaly. This explains the observed convergence of the induced Chern-Simons term.
We determine the effect of a CPT-even and Lorentz violating non-minimal coupling on the differential cross sections for some of the most important tree-level processes in QED, namely, Compton and Bhabha scatterings, as well as electron-positron annihilation. Experimental limits constraining the allowed deviation of the differential cross sections relative to pure QED allow us to place upper bounds on the Lorentz violating parameters. A constraint based on the decay rate of para-positronium is also obtained.
We consider the Lorentz invariant non-commutative QED and complete the Feynman rules for the theory up to the order $θ^2$. In the Lorentz invariant version of the non-commutative QED the particles with fractional charges can be also considered. We show that in the parton model, even at the lowest order, the Bjorken scaling violates as $\simθ^2Q^4$.
We investigate the breakdown of Lorentz symmetry in QED by a CPT violating interaction term consisting of the coupling of an axial fermion current with a constant vector field $b$, in the framework of algebraic renormalization -- a regularization-independent method. We show, to all orders in perturbation theory, that a CPT-odd and Lorentz violating Chern-Simons-like term, definitively, is not radiatively induced by the axial coupling of the fermions with the constant vector $b$.
The unitarity in Lorentz invariance violating QED consisting of standard fermions and higher-order photons of the Myers-Pospelov theory is studied. We find ghost states associated to the higher-order character of the theory which could render the $S$ matrix nonunitary. An explicit calculation to check perturbative unitarity in the process of electron-positron scattering is performed and it is found to be possible to preserve unitarity.
A Lorentz violating modification of massless QED is proposed, with higher order space derivatives for the photon field. The fermion dynamical mass generation is studied with the Schwinger-Dyson approach, and it is found that the resulting mass is many orders of magnitude smaller than the (Plank-) mass scale introduced by the higher order derivative terms. This is due to a suppressing factor, non-analytic in the fine structure constant and exponentially small. This scenario is an alternative to the Higgs mechanism for the electron mass, which arises here from Lorentz violating effects at high e…
The unitarity of a Lorentz-invariance violating QED model with higher-order Myers and Pospelov photons coupled to standard fermions is studied. As expected, we find ghost states associated to the higher-order terms that may lead to the loss of unitarity. An explicit calculation to check perturbative unitarity in the process of electron-positron scattering is performed and it is found to be possible to be preserved.
In order to treat loops in the Lorentz-violating QED model, we present a derivation of the QED axial anomaly that specifically highlights the infrared origin of the effect. This is done using dimensional regularization while treating $γ_5$ as a spectator. This enables us to revisit aspects in the fermionic sector of Lorentz-violating QED which have analogous structure to the axial anomaly. In particular, it is shown that both the Chern-Simons and photon mass operators are not induced in the one loop effective action. At lowest order in the Lorentz-violating parameter, we can define a non-relat…
We calculate a finite momentum-dependent part of the photon polarization operator in a simple model of Lorentz-violating quantum electrodynamics nonperturbatively at all orders of Lorentz-violating parameters. We sum one-particle reducible diagrams into the modified photon propagator, and determine the physical photon dispersion relation as the location of its pole. The photon dispersion relation, as well as its group velocity, acquires the one-loop momentum-dependent radiative correction. We constrain the Lorentz-violating parameters for heavy charged fermions (muon, $τ$-lepton, top-quark) fr…
We consider an extension of the Standard Model with isotropic nonbirefringent Lorentz violation in the photon sector and restrict the discussion to the case of a "fast" photon with a phase velocity larger than the maximum attainable velocity of the quarks and leptons. With our conventions, this case corresponds to a negative Lorentz-violating parameter $κ$ in the action. The decay rate of a neutral pion into two nonstandard photons is calculated as a function of the 3-momentum of the initial pion and the negative Lorentz-violating parameter $κ$ of the final photons.
It was recently suggested that possible small volations of Lorentz invariance could explain the existence of UHECR beyond the GZK cutoff and the observations of multi-TeV gamma-rays from Mkn 501. Our analysis of Lorentz-violating kinematics shows that in addition to the modified threshold conditions solving cosmic ray puzzles we should expect a strong suppression of electromagnetic processes like bremsstrahlung and pair creation. This leads to drastic effects in electron-photon cascade development in the atmosphere and in detectors.
We study a QED extension that is unitary, CPT invariant and super-renormalizable, but violates Lorentz symmetry at high energies, and contains higher-dimension operators (LVQED). Divergent diagrams are only one- and two-loop. We compute the one-loop renormalizations at high and low energies and analyse the relation between them. It emerges that the power-like divergences of the low-energy theory are multiplied by arbitrary constants, inherited by the high-energy theory, and therefore can be set to zero at no cost, bypassing the hierarchy problem.
We consider an extended QED with the addition of a dimension-five Lorentz-breaking coupling between spinor and gauge fields, involving a pseudo-tensor $κ^{μνλρ}$. The specific form of the Lorentz violating coupling considered by us have been suggested in other works, and some of its consequences at the classical level were already studied. Here, we investigate the consequences of this specific form of Lorentz violation at the quantum level, evaluating the one loop corrections to the gauge field two-point function, both at zero and at finite temperature. We relate the terms that are generated b…
We reconsider an alternative theory of the QED with the photon as a massless vector Nambu-Goldstone boson and show that the underlying spontaneous Lorentz violation caused by the vector field vacuum expectation value, while being superficial in gauge invariant theory, becomes physically significant in the QED with a tiny gauge non-invariance. This leads, through special dispersion relations appearing for charged fermions, to a new class of phenomena which could be of distinctive observational interest in particle physics and astrophysics. They include a significant change in the GZK cutoff for…
We investigate an alternative CPT-odd Lorentz-breaking QED which includes the Carroll-Field-Jackiw (CFJ) term of the Standard Model Extension (SME), writing the gauge sector in the action in a Palatini-like form, in which the vectorial field and the field-strength tensor are treated as independent entities. Interestingly, this naturally induces a Lorentz-violating mass term in the classical action. We study physical consistency aspects of the model both at classical and quantum levels.
It is by now clear that infrared sector of QED has an intriguingly complex structure. Based on earlier pioneering works on this subject, two of us recently proposed a simple modification of QED by constructing a generalization of the $U(1)$ charge group of QED to the "Sky" group incorporating the known spontaneous Lorentz violation due to infrared photons, but still compatible in particular with locality. There it was shown that the "Sky" group is generated by the algebra of angle dependent charges and a study of its superselection sectors has revealed a manifest description of spontaneous bre…
We consider the four-dimensional quantum electrodynamics extended with Myers-Pospelov Lorentz-violating dimension-5 operators to investigate 4D-2D projection. In projecting out the 4D theory down to a 2D theory we get analogs of these operators. Namely, we obtain a new two-dimensional theory with corresponding scalar and fermionic 2D Myers-Pospelov Lorentz-violating dimension-3 operators. New defect structures can also be found from this new projected out 2D scalar sector. Furthermore, we also show that this 2D scalar sector can be also radiatively induced through the new 2D fermionic sector.
In this paper we evaluate the induced Lorentz and CPT violating Chern-Simons term in the QED action at finite temperature. We do this using the method of derivative expansion of fermion determinants. Also, we use the imaginary-time formalism to calculate the temperature dependence of the Chern-Simons term
Violations of Lorentz invariance that appear via operators of dimension four or less are completely parameterized in the Standard Model Extension (SME). In the pure photonic sector of the SME, there are nineteen dimensionless, Lorentz-violating parameters. Eighteen of these have experimental upper bounds ranging between 10^{-11} and 10^{-32}; the remaining parameter, k_tr, is isotropic and has a much weaker bound of order 10^{-4}. In this Brief Report, we point out that k_tr gives a significant contribution to the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron and find a new upper bound of order 10…
We show that the correctly evaluated effective Lagrangian should include short-distance interaction terms which have been avoided under the protection of usual regularization and must be properly identified and reinstated if regularization is to be removed. They have special physical and mathematical significance as well as restoring gauge invariance and suppressing divergence in the effective Lagrangian. The rich structure of the short-distance interaction terms can open up challenging opportunities where the conventional regularization with rigid structure is unavailable and inappropriate. I…
The variational equation for the mean square displacement of the electron in the polaron worldline approach to quenched QED can be cast into a form which closely resembles the classical Abraham-Lorentz equation but without the conceptual and practical diseases of the latter. The connection with delay equations describing field retardation effects is also established. As applications we solve this integro-differential equation numerically for various values of the coupling constant and cut-off and re-derive the variational approximation to the anomalous mass dimension of the electron found rece…
We set constraints on O(E/M) Lorentz Violation in QED in an effective field theory framework. A major consequence of such assumptions is the modification of the dispersion relations for electrons/positrons and photons, which in turn can affect the electromagnetic output of astrophysical objects. We compare the information provided by multiwavelength observations with a full and self-consistent computation of the broad-band spectrum of the Crab Nebula. We cast constraints of order 10^{-5} at 95% confidence level on the lepton Lorentz Violation parameters.
Some deviations from special relativity--especially isotropic effects--are most efficiently constrained using particles with velocities very close to 1. While there are extremely tight bounds on some of the relevant parameters coming from astrophysical observations, many of these rely on our having an accurate understanding of the dynamics of high-energy sources. It is desirable to have reliable laboratory constraints on these same parameters. The fastest-moving particles in a laboratory were electrons and positrons at LEP. The energetics of the LEP beams were extremely well understood, and me…
We show how the argument exploited by Galaverni & Sigl in Phys. Rev. Lett., 100, 021102 (2008) (see also arXiv:0708.1737) to constrain Lorentz invariance violation (LV) using Ultra-High-Energy photon non observation by the AUGER experiment, can be extended to QED with Planck-suppressed LV (at order $O(E/M)$ and $O(E^2/M^2)$). While the original constraints given by Galaverni & Sigl happen to be weakened, we show that, when used together with other EFT reactions and the expected detection of photons at $E > 10^{19}$ eV by AUGER, this method has the potentiality not only to basically rule out or…
A tiny Lorentz symmetry breaking can be mediated in Electrodynamics by means of the Chern-Simons (CS) interaction polarized along a constant CS vector. Its presence makes the vacuum optically active that has been recently estimated from astrophysical data. We examine two possibilities for the CS vector to be time-like or space-like, under the assumption that it originates from v.e.v. of some pseudoscalar matter. It is shown that: a) a time-like CS vector makes the vacuum unstable under pairs creation of tachyonic photon modes with the finite vacuum decay rate, i.e. it is unlikely realized at m…
We revisit the previously unsolved problems of ensuring Lorentz invariance and non-perturbative unitarity in Lee-Wick theories. We base our discussion on an ultraviolet completion of QED by Lee-Wick ghost fields, which is argued to be asymptotically safe. We argue that as long as the state space is based upon a suitable choice of distributions of a type invented by Gel'fand and Shilov, the Lee-Wick ghosts can be eliminated while preserving Lorentz invariance to produce a unitary theory. The method for eliminating ghosts is in principle non-perturbatively well-defined, in contrast with some pre…
We obtain the induced Lorentz- and CPT-violating term in QED at finite temperature using imaginary-time formalism and dimensional regularization. Its form resembles a Chern-Simons-like structure, but, unexpectedly, it does not depend on the temporal component of the fixed $b_μ$ constant vector that is coupled to the axial current. Nevertheless Ward identities are respected and its coefficient vanishes at T=0, consistently with previous computations with the same regularization procedure, and it is a non-trivial function of temperature. We argue that at finite $T$ a Chern-Simons-like Lorentz- a…
We show for the first time that the induced parity--even Lorentz invariance violation can be unambiguously calculated in the physically justified and minimally broken dimensional regularization scheme, suitably tailored for a spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking in a field theory model. The quantization of the Lorentz invariance violating quantum electrodynamics is critically examined and shown to be consistent either for a light--like cosmic anisotropy axial--vector or for a time--like one, when in the presence of a bare photon mass.
Wave functions and energy eigenvalues of the path integral Hamiltonian are studied in Lorentz frame moving with velocity $v$. The instantaneous interaction produced by the Wilson loop is shown to be reduced by an overall factor $\sqrt{1-(\frac{v}{c})^2}$. As a result one obtains the boosted energy eigenvalues in the Lorentz covariant form $E= \sqrt{\veP^2+M^2_0}$, where $M_0$ is the c.m. energy, and this form is tested for two free particles and for the Coulomb and linear interaction.Using Lorentz contracted wave functions of the bound states one obtains the scaled parton wave functions and va…
We continue the development of a nonperturbative light-front Hamiltonian method for the solution of quantum field theories by considering the one-photon eigenstate of Lorentz-gauge QED. The photon state is computed nonperturbatively for a Fock basis with a bare photon state and electron-positron pair states. The calculation is regulated by the inclusion of Pauli-Villars (PV) fermions, with one flavor to make the integrals finite and a second flavor to guarantee a zero mass for the physical photon eigenstate. We compute in detail the constraints on the PV coupling strengths that this zero mass …
We entertain the idea that a suitable background of cold (very low momentum) pseudoscalar particles or condensate, may trigger a background that effectively generates Lorentz-invariance violation. This aether-like background induces a Chern-Simons modification of QED. Physics is different in different frames and, in the rest frame of the pseudoscalar background, high momentum photons can decay into pairs. The threshold for such decay depends quadratically on the rest mass of the particles. This mechanism could explain in a natural way why antiprotons are absent in recent cosmic ray measurement…
The strongest bounds on some forms of Lorentz and CPT violation come from astrophysical data, and placing such bounds may require understanding and modeling distant sources of radiation. However, it is also desirable to have bounds that do not rely on these kinds of detailed models. Bounds that do not rely on any modeling of astrophysical objects may be derived both from laboratory experiments and certain kinds of astrophysical observations. The strongest such bounds on isotropic modifications of electron, positron, and photon dispersion relations of the form E^2 = p^2 + m^ 2 + epsilon p^3 com…
Comparing electronic Hydrogen with muonic Hydrogen shows that the discrepancy in measurement of the Lamb shift in the both systems are relatively of order of $(\frac{m_μ}{m_e})^{4-5}$. We explore the spectrum of Hydrogen atom in noncommutative $QED$ to compare the noncommutative effects on the both bound states. We show that in the Lorentz violating noncommutative QED the ratio of NC-corrections is $(\frac{m_μ}{m_e})^3$ while in the Lorentz conserving NCQED is $(\frac{m_μ}{m_e})^5$. An uncertainty about $1 \,Hz\ll 3\,kHz$ in the Lamb shift of Hydrogen atom leads to an NC correction about $10 \…
We show that QED in the Coulomb gauge can be considered as a low energy linear approximation of a non-linear $σ$-type model where the photon emerges as a vector Goldstone boson related to the spontaneous breakdown of Lorentz symmetry down to its spatial rotation subgroup at some high scale $M$. Starting with a general massive vector field theory one naturally arrives at this model if the pure spin-1 value for the vector field $A_μ(x)$ provided by the Lorentz condition $\partial_μA_μ(x)=0$ is required. The model coincides with conventional QED in the Coulomb gauge in the limit of M going to inf…
In this article the classical, relativistic Lagrangian based on the isotropic fermion sector of the Lorentz-violating (minimal) Standard-Model Extension is considered. The motion of the associated classical particle in an external electromagnetic field is studied and the evolution of its spin, which is introduced by hand, is investigated. It is shown that the particle travels along trajectories that are scaled versions of the standard ones. Furthermore there is no spin precession due to Lorentz violation, but the rate is modified at which the longitudinal and transverse spin components transfo…
Perturbative calculations in quantum field theory often require the regularization of infrared divergences. In quantum electrodynamics, such a regularization can for example be accomplished by a photon mass introduced via the Stueckelberg method. The present work extends this method to the QED limit of the Lorentz- and CPT-violating Standard-Model Extension.
The possibility of a small modification of spinor Quantum Electro-Dynamics is reconsidered, in which Lorentz and CPT non-covariant kinetic terms for photons and fermions are present. The corresponding free field theory is carefully discussed. The finite one-loop parity-odd induced effective action is unambiguously calculated using the physical cutoff method, which manifestly encodes the maximal residual symmetry group allowed by the presence of the Lorentz and CPT breaking axial-vector. This very same induced effective action, which is different from those ones so far quoted in the Literature,…
Present and future ultra-high-energy-cosmic-ray facilities (e.g., the Pierre Auger Observatory with South and North components) and TeV-gamma-ray telescope arrays (e.g., HESS or VERITAS and CTA) have the potential to set stringent indirect bounds on the nine Lorentz-violating parameters of nonbirefringent modified Maxwell theory minimally coupled to standard Dirac theory. Theoretically, the most interesting case is isotropic Lorentz violation, which is described by a single parameter [taken to vanish for the standard Lorentz-invariant theory]. It appears possible to obtain in the future an upp…
In this work, in the light of the developments for indefinite metric theories made by Lee and Wick, we study perturbative unitarity in a Lorentz-invariance violating QED model with higher-order operators. We show that by following the Lee-Wick prescription it is possible to preserve unitarity in the model at one-loop order in the coupling.
In this talk, I discuss some recent theoretical progress concerning the Lorentz- and CPT-violating extension of the standard model. The results summarized include the development of an explicit connection between noncommutative field theory and the standard model extension, placement of new bounds in the photon sector, calculation of one-loop renormalization beta functions in QED, and an analysis of field redefinitions.
We compute the full vacuum polarization tensor in the minimal QED extension. We find that its low-energy limit is dominated by the radiatively induced Chern-Simons-like term and the high-energy limit is dominated by the c-type coefficients. We investigate the implications of the high-energy limit for the QED and QCD running couplings. In particular, the QCD running offers the possibility to study Lorentz-violating effects on the parton distribution functions and observables such as the hadronic R ratio.
We show that at long lengthscales and low energies and to leading order in 1/N expansion, the anisotropic QED in 2+1 dimensions renormalizes to an isotropic limit. Consequently, the (Euclidean) relativistic invariance of the theory is spontaneously restored at the isotropic critical point, characterized by the anomalous dimension exponent of the Dirac fermion propagator $η$. We find $η=16/3π^2 N$.
