Constraints on Lorentz Invariance Violation from HAWC Observations of Gamma Rays above 100 TeV

Journal Article · Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.124.131101· OSTI ID:1781384

Albert, A.; Alfaro, R.; Alvarez, C.; Angeles Camacho, J.  R.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J.  C.; Arunbabu, K.  P.; Avila Rojas, D.; Ayala Solares, H.  A.; Baghmanyan, V.; Belmont-Moreno, E.; BenZvi, S.  Y.; Brisbois, C.; Caballero-Mora, K.  S.; Capistrán, T.; Carramiñana, A.; Casanova, S.; Cotti, U.; Cotzomi, J.; Coutiño de León, S.; De la Fuente, E. ; de León, C.; Dingus, B.  L.; DuVernois, M.  A.; Díaz-Vélez, J.  C.; Ellsworth, R.  W.; Engel, K.; Espinoza, C.; Fleischhack, H.; Fraija, N.; Galván-Gámez, A.; Garcia, D.; García-González, J.  A.; Garfias, F.; González, M.  M.; Goodman, J.  A.; Harding, J.  P.; Hernandez, S.; Hona, B.; Huang, D.; Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F.; Hüntemeyer, P.; Iriarte, A.; Joshi, V.; Lara, A.; Lee, W.  H.; León Vargas, H.; Linnemann, J.  T.; Longinotti, A.  L.; Luis-Raya, G.; Lundeen, J.; López-Coto, R.; Malone, K.; Marinelli, S.  S.; Martinez-Castellanos, I.; Martínez-Castro, J.; Martínez-Huerta, H.; Matthews, J.  A.; Miranda-Romagnoli, P.; Morales-Soto, J.  A.; Moreno, E.; Nayerhoda, A.; Nellen, L.; Newbold, M.; Nisa, M.  U.; Noriega-Papaqui, R.; Omodei, N.; Peisker, A.; Pérez-Pérez, E.  G.; Rho, C.  D.; Rivière, C.; Rosa-González, D.; Rosenberg, M.; Ruiz-Velasco, E.; Salazar, H.; Salesa Greus, F.; Sandoval, A.; Schneider, M.; Schoorlemmer, H.; Sinnis, G.; Smith, A.  J.; Springer, R.  W.; Surajbali, P.; Tabachnick, E.; Tanner, M.; Tibolla, O.; Tollefson, K.; Torres, I.; Torres-Escobedo, R.; Weisgarber, T.; Yodh, G.; Zepeda, A.; Zhou, H.

Because of the high energies and long distances to the sources, astrophysical observations provide a unique opportunity to test possible signatures of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). Superluminal LIV enables the decay of photons at high energy. The high altitude water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is among the most sensitive gamma-ray instruments currently operating above 10 TeV. HAWC finds evidence of 100 TeV photon emission from at least four astrophysical sources. These observations exclude, for the strongest of the limits set, the LIV energy scale to 2.2 × 10³¹ eV , over 1800 times the Planck energy and an improvement of 1 to 2 orders of magnitude over previous limits.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Contributing Organization: HAWC Collaboration
• Grant/Contract Number: 89233218CNA000001
• OSTI ID: 1781384
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--21-22669
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 124; ISSN 0031-9007
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Electromagnetic radiation astronomy
Gamma ray astronomy
Lorentz symmetry
Particle astrophysics