Currently operating gravitational-wave interferometers are Michelson interferometers with effective arm length L ~ 4x10e5 m. While the interferometer remains in lock, data at the fsr sideband frequency encode information on slow phase changes in the f ~ 10e-5 Hz range, with a fringe sensitivity ~ 10e-10. Preliminary LIGO data presented in 2009 show no Lorentz violating signal at the second harmonic of the Earth's sidereal frequency. This sets a limit on a possible change in refractine index, dn/n < 2x10e-22, an improvement of more than three orders of magnitude over existing limits.
A novel structure-preserving algorithm for general relativity in vacuum is derived from a lattice gauge theoretic discretization of the tetradic Palatini action. The resulting model of discrete gravity is demonstrated to preserve local Lorentz invariance and symplectic structure.
The parity violation at the level of weak interactions and other similar discrete symmetries breaking show that the invariance of laws under the full group of Lorentz transformations can not be taken granted. We examine the principle of Lorentz invariance under the general theory of relativity, and demonstrate the importance of a concept of the spacetime orientation as part of the causal structure of spacetime.
We consider two alternative dark energy models: a Lorentz invariance preserving model with a nonminimally coupled scalar field and a Lorentz invariance violating model with a minimally coupled scalar field. We study accelerated expansion and dynamics of equation of state parameter in these scenarios. While a minimally coupled scalar field has not the capability to be a successful dark energy candidate with cosmological constant line crossing, a nonminimally coupled scalar field in the presence of Lorentz invariance or a minimally coupled scalar field with Lorentz invariance violation have this…
We analyze the possibility of testing local Lorentz invariance from the observation of tau decays. Future prospects of probing distances below the electroweak characteristic scale are discussed.
We study possible crossing of the phantom divided barrier in a Lorentz invariance violating dark energy model. Lorentz invariance violation which is achieved by introducing a vector field in the action, incorporates directly in the dynamics of the scalar field and equation of state. This interesting feature allows us to study phantom divided barrier crossing in the context of Lorentz invariance violation. We show that for suitable choice of parameter space, equation of state can cross phantom divided barrier just by one scalar field and Lorentz violating vector field controls this crossing.
We study cosmological implications of a Lorentz invariance violating DGP-inspired braneworld scenario. A minimally coupled scalar field and a single, fixed-norm, Lorentz-violating timelike vector field within an interactive picture provide a wide parameter space which accounts for late-time acceleration and transition to phantom phase of the scalar field.
We discuss the local Lorentz invariance in the context of N=1 supergravity and show that a previous attempt to find explicit solutions to the Lorentz constraint in terms of $γ-$matrices is not correct. We improve that solution by using a different representation of the Lorentz operators in terms of the generators of the rotation group, and show its compatibility with the matrix representation of the fermionic field. We find the most general wave functional that satisfies the Lorentz constraint in this representation.
A search for sidereal variations in the non-Newtonian force between two tungsten plates separated at millimeter ranges sets experimental limits on Lorentz invariance violation involving quadratic couplings of Riemann curvature. We show that the Lorentz invariance violation force between two finite flat plates is dominated by the edge effects, which includes a suppression effect leading to lower limits than previous rough estimates. From this search, we determine the current best constraints of the Lorentz invariance violating coefficients at a level of $10^{-8}$ m$^{2}$.
A five dimensional space without invariance under local Lorentz transformations is studied, and the transformations under which the theory is invariant are introduced. We show that the Lorentz force is included in the ensuing equations of motion. The four dimensional Einstein and Maxwell equations emerge from the field equations while the homogeneous Maxwell equations naturally appear in the work. A corresponding quantum theory is introduced. The spectrum of a free particle and the hydrogen atom are recovered. Quantum structure of Schwarzschild spaces are also studied.
The Poincaré invariance of GR is usually interpreted as Lorentz invariance plus diffeomorphism invariance. In this paper, by introducing the local inertial coordinates (LIC), it is shown that a theory with Lorentz and diffeomorphism invariance is not necessarily Poincaré invariant. Actually, the energy-momentum conservation is violated there. On the other hand, with the help of the LIC, the Poincaré invariance is reinterpreted as an internal symmetry. In this formalism, the conservation law is derived, which has not been sufficiently explored before.
Non-trivial solutions in string field theory may lead to the spontaneous breaking of Lorentz invariance and to new tensor-matter interactions. It is argued that requiring the contribution of the vacuum expectation values of Lorentz tensors to account for the vacuum energy up to the level that $Ω_{0}^Λ = 0.5$ implies the new interactions range is $λ\sim 10^{-4} m$. These conjectured violations of the Lorentz symmetry are consistent with the most stringent experimental limits.
Recently, first limits on putative Lorentz invariance violation coefficients in the pure gravity sector were determined by the reanalysis of short-range gravity experiments. Such experiments search for new physics at sidereal frequencies. They are not, however, designed to optimize the signal strength of a Lorentz invariance violation force; in fact the Lorentz violating signal is suppressed in the planar test mass geometry employed in those experiments. We describe a short-range torsion pendulum experiment with enhanced sensitivity to possible Lorentz violating signals. A periodic, striped te…
The aim of this paper is to show the gauge-invariance on the response of interferometers to gravitational waves (GWs). In this process, after a review of results on the Tranverse-Traceless (TT) gauge, where, in general, the theoretical computations on GWs are performed, which is due for completness, we analyse the gauge of the local observer, which represents the gauge of a laboratory environment on Earth. The gauge-invariance between the two gauges is shown in its full angular and frequency dependences. In previous works in the literature this gauge-invariance was shown only in the low freque…
Classical light bending is investigated for weak gravitational fields in the presence of hypothetical local Lorentz violation. Using an effective field theory framework that describes general deviations from local Lorentz invariance, we derive a modified deflection angle for light passing near a massive body. The results include anisotropic effects not present for spherical sources in General Relativity as well as Weak Equivalence Principle violation. We develop an expression for the relative deflection of two distant stars that can be used to analyze data in past and future solar-system obser…
It is believed that the modification of Newtonian dynamics (MOND) is possible alternate for dark matter hypothesis. Although Bekenstein's TeVeS supplies a relativistic version of MOND, one may still wish a more concise covariant formulism of MOND. In this paper, within covariant geometrical framwork, we present another version of MOND. We show the spacetime structure of MOND with properties of Tully-Fisher relation and Lorentz invariance violation.
It is shown that the field equations derived from an effective interaction hamiltonian for Maxwell and gravitational fields in the semiclassical approximation of loop quantum gravity using rotational invariant states (such as weave states) are Lorentz invariant. To derive this result, which is in agreement with the observational evidence, we use the geometrical properties of the electromagnetic field.
Shape dynamics is a reframing of canonical general relativity in which time reparametrization invariance is "traded" for a local conformal invariance. We explore the emergence of Lorentz invariance in this model in three contexts: as a maximal symmetry, an asymptotic symmetry, and a local invariance.
Current limits on violation of local Lorentz invariance in the photon sector are derived mainly from experiments that search for a spatial anisotropy in the speed of light. The presently operating gravitational wave detectors are Michelson interferometers with long effective arms, 4e5 m, and sensitive to a fringe shift 2e-9. Therefore they can be used to test for a difference in the speed of light in the two arms, as modulated bi-annualy by the orientation of the Earth's velocity with respect to the direction of motion of the local system. A limit can be set on the Robertson-Mansouri-Sexl para…
Superconducting-gravimeter measurements are used to test the local Lorentz invariance of the gravitational interaction and of matter-gravity couplings. The best laboratory sensitivities to date are achieved via a maximum-reach analysis for 13 Lorentz-violating operators, with some improvements exceeding an order of magnitude.
We study the prospects for using interferometers in gravitational-wave detectors as tools to search for photon-sector violations of Lorentz symmetry. Existing interferometers are shown to be exquisitely sensitive to tiny changes in the effective refractive index of light occurring at frequencies around and below the microhertz range, including at the harmonics of the frequencies of the Earth's sidereal rotation and annual revolution relevant for tests of Lorentz symmetry. We use preliminary data obtained by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2006-2007 to place co…
New tests are proposed to constrain possible deviations from local Lorentz invariance and local position invariance in the gravity sector. By using precise timing results of two binary pulsars, i.e., PSRs J1012+5307 and J1738+0333, we are able to constrain (strong-field) parametrized post-Newtonian parameters $\hatα_1$, $\hatα_2$, $\hatξ$ to high precision, among which, $|\hatξ| < 3.1\times10^{-4}$ (95% C.L.) is reported here for the first time.
The Newton limit of gravity is studied in the presence of Lorentz-violating gravitational operators of arbitrary mass dimension. The linearized modified Einstein equations are obtained and the perturbative solutions are constructed and characterized. We develop a formalism for data analysis in laboratory experiments testing gravity at short range and demonstrate that these tests provide unique sensitivity to deviations from local Lorentz invariance.
We study the consistency of having Lorentz invariance as a low energy approximation within the quantum field theory framework. A model with a scalar and a fermion field is used to show how a Lorentz invariance violating high momentum scale, a physical cutoff rendering the quantum field theory finite, can be made compatible with a suppression of Lorentz invariance violations at low momenta. The fine tuning required to get this suppression and to have a light scalar particle in the spectrum is determined at one loop.
The Standard Model Extension formulated by Colladay and Kostelecký is reviewed in the framework of the $^4He$ primordial abundance. Upper bounds on coefficients for the Lorentz violation are derived using the present observational data.
A scalar field can be inserted in Maxwell and/or Einstein theory to effect symmetry breaking. Consequences of such a modification are discussed. Possible dynamics for the scalar field are presented.
We present the first experimental test of Lorentz invariance using the frequency difference between counter-propagating modes in an asymmetric odd-parity optical resonator. This type of test is $\sim10^{4}$ more sensitive to odd-parity and isotropic (scalar) violations of Lorentz invariance than equivalent conventional even-parity experiments due to the asymmetry of the optical resonator. The disadvantages of odd parity resonators have been negated by the use of counter-propagating modes, delivering a high level of immunity to environmental fluctuations. With a non-rotating experiment our resu…
One of the experimental tests of Lorentz invariance violation is to measure the helicity dependence of the propagation velocity of photons originating in distant cosmological obejcts. Using a recent determination of the distance of the Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 041219A, for which a high degree of polarization is observed in the prompt emission, we are able to improve by 4 orders of magnitude the existing constraint on Lorentz invariance violation, arising from the phenomenon of vacuum birefringence.
Trying to combine standard quantum field theories with gravity leads to a breakdown of the usual structure of space-time at around the Planck length, 1.6*10^{-35} m, with possible violations of Lorentz invariance. Calculations of preferred-frame effects in quantum gravity have further motivated high precision searches for Lorentz violation. Here, we explain that combining known elementary particle interactions with a Planck-scale preferred frame gives rise to Lorentz violation at the percent level, some 20 orders of magnitude higher than earlier estimates, unless the bare parameters of the the…
We show that a static spherically symmetric black hole, in a generic theory of gravity with generic matter fields, has a two-dimensional Lorentz symmetry.
Motivated by ideas about quantum gravity, a tremendous amount of effort over the past decade has gone into testing Lorentz invariance in various regimes. This review summarizes both the theoretical frameworks for tests of Lorentz invariance and experimental advances that have made new high precision tests possible. The current constraints on Lorentz violating effects from both terrestrial experiments and astrophysical observations are presented.
Using a deformed dispersion relation for gravitational waves, Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo have been able to place constraints on violations of local Lorentz invariance as well as the mass of the graviton. We summarise the method to obtain the current bounds from the 10 significant binary black hole detections made during the first and second observing runs of the above detectors.
In (3+1) Hamiltonian form, the conditions for the electric/magnetic invariance of generic self-interacting gauge vector actions and the definition of the duality generator are obvious. Instead, (3+1) actions are not intrinsically Lorentz invariant. Imposing the Dirac-Schwinger stress tensor commutator requirement to enforce the latter yields a differential constraint on the Hamiltonian which translates into the usual Lagrangian form of the duality invariance condition obeyed by Maxwell and Born-Infeld theories. We also discuss covariance properties of some analogous scalar models.
We propose a new theory of gravitation on noncommutative space-time which is invariant under the general coordinate transformations, while the local Lorentz invariance is realized as twisted gauge symmetry. Our theory is remarkably simpler compared to the existing formulations of noncommutative gravity.
Hořava gravity is a attempt to construct a renormalizable theory of gravity by breaking the Lorentz Invariance of the gravitational action at high energies. The underlying principle is that Lorentz Invariance is an approximate symmetry and its violation by gravitational phenomena is somehow hidden to present limits of observational precision. Here I point out that a simple modification of the low energy limit of Hořava gravity in its non-projectable form can effectively camouflage the presence of a preferred frame in regions where the Newtonian gravitational field gradient is higher than $cH_0…
This brief contribution is devoted to phenomenological consequences of deviations from Lorentz invariance in gravity and dark matter. We will discuss main effects on cosmological observables and current constraints derived from astrophysical and cosmological data.
One of the disadvantages of the Hamiltonian formulation is that Lorentz invariance is not manifest in the former. Given a Hamiltonian, there is no simple way to check whether it is relativistic or not. One would either have to solve for the equations of motion or calculate the Poisson Brackets of the Noether charges to perform such a check. In this paper we show that, for a class of Hamiltonians, it is possible to check Lorentz invariance directly from the Hamiltonian. Our work is particularly useful for theories where the other methods may not be readily available.
We report new results of a test of Lorentz invariance based on the comparison of a cryogenic sapphire microwave resonator and a hydrogen maser. The experimental results are shown together with an extensive analysis of systematic effects. Previously, this experiment has set the most stringent constraint on Kennedy-Thorndike type violations of Lorentz invariance. In this work we present new data and interpret our results in the general Lorentz violating extension of the standard model of particle physics (SME). Within the photon sector of the SME, our experiment is sensitive to seven SME paramet…
Relativistic Invariance might be modified by Quantum Gravity effects. The interesting point which emerged in the last fifteen years is that remnants of possible Lorentz Invariance Violations could be present at energies much lower than their natural scale, and possibly affect Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays phenomena. We discuss their status in the view of recent data from the Pierre Auger Observatory.
The effects of local Lorentz violation on dispersion and birefringence of gravitational waves are investigated. The covariant dispersion relation for gravitational waves involving gauge-invariant Lorentz-violating operators of arbitrary mass dimension is constructed. The chirp signal from the gravitational-wave event GW150914 is used to place numerous first constraints on gravitational Lorentz violation.
We consider the implications for laser interferometry of the quantum-gravity-motivated modifications in the laws of particle propagation, which are presently being considered in attempts to explain puzzling observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. We show that there are interferometric setups in which the Planck-scale effect on propagation leads to a characteristic signature. A naive estimate is encouraging with respect to the possibility of achieving Planck-scale sensitivity, but we also point out some severe technological challenges which would have to be overcome in order to achieve t…
Theories of gravitation without Lorentz invariance are candidates of low-energy descriptions of quantum gravity. In this review we will describe the phenomenological consequences of the candidates associated to the existence of a preferred time direction
I review some aspects of non-critical strings in connection with Lorentz-Invariance violating approaches to quantum gravity. I also argue how non-critical strings may provide a unifying framework where string Cosmology and quantum gravity may be tackled together.
We study renormalization group flows in strongly interacting field theories with fermions that correspond to transitions between a theory without Lorentz invariance at high energies down to a theory with approximate Lorentz symmetry in the infrared. Holographic description of the strong coupling is used. The emphasis is made on emergence of chiral fermions in the low-energy theory.
Lorentz Invariance Violation introduced as a generic modification to particle dispersion relations is used to study high energy cosmic ray attenuation processes. It is shown to reproduce the same physical effects for vacuum Cherenkov radiation, as in some particular models with spontaneous breaking of Lorentz symmetry. This approximation is also implemented for the study of photon decay in vacuum, where stringent limits to the violation scale are derived from the direct observation of very high energy cosmic ray photon events on gamma telescopes. Photo production processes by cosmic ray primar…
It is argued that the natural kinematics of the pilot-wave theory is Aristotelian. Despite appearances, Galilean invariance is not a fundamental symmetry of the low-energy theory. Instead, it is a fictitious symmetry that has been artificially imposed. It is concluded that the search for a Lorentz-invariant extension is physically misguided.
We employ techniques from quantum estimation theory (QET) to estimate the Lorentz violation parameters in the 1+3-dimensional flat spacetime. We obtain and discuss the expression of the quantum Fisher information (QFI) in terms of the Lorentz violation parameter $σ_0$ and the momentum k of the created particles. We show that the maximum QFI is achieved for a specific momentum $k_{\mathrm{max}}$. We also find that the optimal precision of estimation of the Lorentz violation parameter is obtained near the Planck scale.
We examine what the absorbed spectra of extra-galactic TeV gamma-ray sources, such as blazars, would look like in the presence of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). Pair-production with the extra-galactic background light modifies the observed spectra of such sources, and we show that a violation of Lorentz invariance would generically have a dramatic effect on this absorption feature. Inspecting this effect, an experimental task likely practical in the near future, can provide unique insight on the possibility of LIV.
We propose that local Lorentz invariance is spontaneously violated at high energies, due to a nonvanishing vacuum expectation value of a vector field ϕ^μ, as a possible explanation of the observation of ultra-high energy cosmic rays with an energy above the GZK cutoff. Certain consequences of spontaneous breaking of Lorentz invariance in cosmology are discussed.
We explore the interplay of matter with quantum gravity with a preferred frame to highlight that the matter sector cannot be protected from the symmetry-breaking effects in the gravitational sector. Focusing on Abelian gauge fields, we show that quantum gravitational radiative corrections induce Lorentz-invariance-violating couplings for the Abelian gauge field. In particular, we discuss how such a mechanism could result in the possibility to translate observational constraints on Lorentz violation in the matter sector into strong constraints on the Lorentz-violating gravitational couplings.
Cosmic messengers (gamma rays, cosmic rays, neutrinos and gravitational waves) provide a powerful complementary way to search for Lorentz invariance violating effects to laboratory-based experiments. The long baselines and high energies involved make Cherenkov telescopes, air-shower arrays, neutrino telescopes and gravitational wave detectors unique tools to probe the expected tiny effects that the breaking of Lorentz invariance would cause in the propagation of these messengers, in comparison with the standard scenario. In this chapter we explain the expected effects that the mentioned detect…
We investigate five-dimensional braneworld setups with broken Lorentz invariance continuing the developments of our previous paper (arXiv:0712.1136), where a family of static self-tuning braneworld solutions was found. We show that several known braneworld models can be embedded into this family. Then we give a qualitative analysis of spectra of field fluctuations in backgrounds with broken Lorentz invariance. We also elaborate on one particular model and study spectra of scalar and spinor fields in it. It turns out that the spectra we have found possess very peculiar and unexpected properties…
We present an updated review of Lorentz invariance tests in Effective field theories (EFT) in the matter as well as in the gravity sector. After a general discussion of the role of Lorentz invariance and a derivation of its transformations along the so called von Ignatovski theorem, we present the dynamical frameworks developed within local EFT and the available constraints on the parameters governing the Lorentz breaking effects. In the end, we discuss two specific examples, the OPERA "affaire" and the case of Hořava-Lifshitz gravity. The first case will serve as an example, and a caveat, of …
We show that without Lorentz invariance, the Unruh effect does not exist. We use modified dispersion relations and describe in turn: the non-thermal nature of the vacuum (defined in the preferred frame) restricted to the Rindler wedge, the loss of the KMS property of the Wigthman function, the transition amplitudes and transition rates of a uniformaly accelerated detector. This situation seems to contrast with the Hawking radiation of acoustic black holes, which under certain assumptions has been shown to be robust to a breaking of Lorentz symmetry. We explain this discrepancy.
General relativity with fermions has two independent symmetries: general coordinate invariance and local Lorentz invariance. General coordinate invariance is implemented by the Levi-Civita connection and by Cartan's tetrads both of which have as their action the Einstein-Hilbert action. It is suggested here that local Lorentz invariance is implemented not by a combination of the Levi-Civita connection and Cartan's tetrads known as the spin connection, but by independent Lorentz bosons L_i that gauge the Lorentz group, that couple to fermions like Yang-Mills fields, and that have their own Yang…
We study the possibility to constrain deviations from Lorentz invariance in dark matter (DM) with cosmological observations. Breaking of Lorentz invariance generically introduces new light gravitational degrees of freedom, which we represent through a dynamical timelike vector field. If DM does not obey Lorentz invariance, it couples to this vector field. We find that this coupling affects the inertial mass of small DM halos which no longer satisfy the equivalence principle. For large enough lumps of DM we identify a (chameleon) mechanism that restores the inertial mass to its standard value. …
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.
We use previous work on the Hilbert space for mixed fields to derive deformed dispersion relations for neutrino flavor states. We then discuss how these dispersion relations may be incorporated into frameworks encoding the breakdown of Lorentz invariance. We consider non-linear relativity schemes (of which doubly special relativity is an example), and also frameworks allowing for the existence of a preferred frame. In both cases we derive expressions for the spectrum and end-point of beta decay, which may be used as an experimental probe of the peculiar way in which neutrinos experience Lorent…
The assumption of Lorentz invariance is one of the founding principles of Modern Physics and violation of it would have profound implications to our understanding of the universe. For instance, certain theories attempting a unified theory of quantum gravity predict there could be an effective refractive index of the vacuum; the introduction of an energy dependent dispersion to photons could in turn lead to an observable Lorentz invariance violation signature. Whilst a very small effect on local scales the effect will be cumulative, and so for very high energy particles that travel very large d…
We report the first operation of a rotating odd-parity Lorentz Invariance test in electrodynamics using a microwave Mach-Zehnder interferometer with permeable material in one arm. The experiment sets a direct bound to $ κ_{tr}$ of $-0.3\pm 3\times10^{-7}$. Using new power recycled waveguide interferometer techniques (with the highest spectral resolution ever achieved of $2\times10^{-11} rad/\sqrt{Hz}$) we show an improvement of several orders of magnitude is attainable in the future.
