Planck-scale modifications to electrodynamics characterized by a spacelike symmetry-breaking vector
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Roma 'La Sapienza' and Sezione Roma1 INFN, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Roma (Italy)
- Dipartimento di Matematica, Universita di Roma 'La Sapienza' and Sezione Roma1 INFN, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Roma (Italy)
In the study of Planck-scale ('quantum-gravity-induced') violations of Lorentz symmetry, an important role was played by the deformed-electrodynamics model introduced by Myers and Pospelov. Its reliance on conventional effective quantum field theory, and its description of symmetry-violation effects simply in terms of a four-vector with a nonzero component only in the time direction, rendered it an ideal target for experimentalists and a natural concept-testing ground for many theorists. At this point however the experimental limits on the single Myers-Pospelov parameter, after improving steadily over these past few years, are 'super-Planckian'; i.e. they take the model out of actual interest from a conventional quantum-gravity perspective. In light of this we here argue that it may be appropriate to move on to the next level of complexity, still with vectorial symmetry violation but adopting a generic four-vector. We also offer a preliminary characterization of the phenomenology of this more general framework, sufficient to expose a rather significant increase in complexity with respect to the original Myers-Pospelov setup. Most of these novel features are linked to the presence of spatial anisotropy, which is particularly pronounced when the symmetry-breaking vector is spacelike, and they are such that they reduce the bound-setting power of certain types of observations in astrophysics.
- OSTI ID:
- 21415228
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 82, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.82.024013; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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