Lorentz invariance violation and chemical composition of ultra high energy cosmic rays
- II. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg (Germany)
- DESY Theory Group, Notkestraße 85, 22607 Hamburg (Germany)
Motivated by experimental indications of a significant presence of heavy nuclei in the cosmic ray flux at ultra high energies (∼>10{sup 19} eV), we consider the effects of Planck scale suppressed Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) on the propagation of cosmic ray nuclei. In particular we focus on LIV effects on the photodisintegration of nuclei onto the background radiation fields. After a general discussion of the behavior of the relevant quantities, we apply our formalism to a simplified model where the LIV parameters of the various nuclei are assumed to kinematically result from a single LIV parameter for the constituent nucleons, η, and we derive constraints on η. Assuming a nucleus of a particular species to be actually present at 10{sup 20} eV the following constraints can be placed: −3 × 10{sup −2}∼<η∼<4 for {sup 56}Fe, −2 × 10{sup −3}∼<η∼<3 × 10{sup −2} for {sup 16}O and −7 × 10{sup −5}∼<η∼<1 × 10{sup −4} for {sup 4}He, respectively.
- OSTI ID:
- 22275507
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2011, Issue 03; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Planck-scale Lorentz violation constrained by Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays
Testing Lorentz invariance with the ultrahigh energy cosmic ray spectrum