Lorentz Invariance Violation and the Observed Spectrum of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays

Abstract

There has been much interest in possible violations of Lorentz invariance, particularly motivated by quantum gravity theories. It has been suggested that a small amount of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) could turn off photomeson interactions of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with photons of the cosmic background radiation and thereby eliminate the resulting sharp steepening in the spectrum of the highest energy CRs predicted by Greisen Zatsepin and Kuzmin (GZK). Recent measurements of the UHECR spectrum reported by the HiRes and Auger collaborations, however, indicate the presence of the GZK effect. We present the results of a detailed calculation of the modification of the UHECR spectrum caused by LIV using the formalism of Coleman and Glashow. We then compare these results with the experimental UHECR data from Auger and HiRes. Based on these data, we find a best fit amount of LIV of $4.5_{-4.5}^{+1.5}\times 10^{-23}$,consistent with an upper limit of $6\times 10^{-23}$. This possible amount of LIV can lead to a recovery of the cosmic ray spectrum at higher energies than presently observed. Such an LIV recovery effect can be tested observationally using future detectors.

corrected proof version to be published in Astroparticle Physics

References in corpus (7)

• Data Tables for Lorentz and CPT Violation
• First Observation of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin Suppression
• Observation of the suppression of the flux of cosmic rays above 4x10^19eV
• Correlation of the highest-energy cosmic rays with the positions of nearby active galactic nuclei
• Upper limit on the cosmic-ray photon flux above 10^19 eV using the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Search for Correlations between HiRes Stereo Events and Active Galactic Nuclei
• Could deformed special relativity naturally arise from the semiclassical limit of quantum gravity?

Cited by in corpus (47)

• Tests of Lorentz invariance: a 2013 update
• Cosmic Rays from the Knee to the Highest Energies
• Open Questions in Cosmic-Ray Research at Ultrahigh Energies
• Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays
• Constraining the energy-momentum dispersion relation with Planck-scale sensitivity using cold atoms
• Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays: The Intersection of the Cosmic and Energy Frontiers
• Modifications to Lorentz invariant dispersion in relatively boosted frames
• Classical-physics applications for Finsler $b$ space
• Constraints on Lorentz invariance violation from HAWC observations of gamma rays above 100 TeV
• Feynman propagator for the nonbirefringent CPT-even electrodynamics of the Standard Model Extension
• Asymptotic states and renormalization in Lorentz-violating quantum field theory
• Planck-scale Lorentz violation constrained by Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays
• Cosmic Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory
• Restrictions from Lorentz invariance violation on cosmic ray propagation
• On calculation of cross sections in Lorentz violating theories
• Testing Lorentz Invariance with Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray Spectrum
• Lorentz Invariance Violation and Chemical Composition of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
• Cosmic Rays and the Search for a Lorentz Invariance Violation
• Possible cosmogenic neutrino constraints on Planck-scale Lorentz violation
• Testing effects of Lorentz invariance violation in the propagation of astroparticles with the Pierre Auger Observatory
• Ultra high energy photons as probes of Lorentz symmetry violations in stringy space-time foam models
• Quantum Gravity phenomenology: achievements and challenges
• Constraints on Lorentz Invariance and CPT Violation using Optical Photometry and Polarimetry of Active Galaxies BL Lacertae and S5 B0716+714
• Renormalization group flows in a Lifshitz-like four fermi model
• Testing Lorentz Invariance with Neutrinos from Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Ray Interactions
• Phenomenological Effects of CPT and Lorentz Invariance Violation in Particle and Astroparticle Physics
• Constraints on the proton fraction of cosmic rays at the highest energies and the consequences for cosmogenic neutrinos and photons
• Improved Constraints on Anisotropic Birefringent Lorentz Invariance and CPT Violation from Broadband Optical Polarimetry of High Redshift Galaxies
• Predictions of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray Propagation in the Context of Homogeneously Modified Special Relativity
• Lorentz Invariance Violation effects on UHECR propagation: a geometrized approach
• Quantum gravity phenomenology at the dawn of the multi-messenger era -- A review
• Lorentz invariance violation as an explanation of muon excess in Auger data
• Lorentz breaking Effective Field Theory and observational tests
• New test of Lorentz symmetry using ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays
• Observational Constraints on Local Lorentz Invariance
• White Paper on Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays
• Ether and Relativity
• Probes for String-Inspired Foam, Lorentz, and CPT Violations in Astrophysics
• Simulating Electromagnetic Cascades with Lorentz Invariance Violation
• New physics as a possible explanation for the Amaterasu particle
• Astroparticle Physics Tests of Lorentz Invariance Violation
• Testing energy non-additivity in white dwarfs
• Probing Lorentz Invariance at EeV Energy
• Could the photon dispersion relation be non-linear ?
• Testing Lorentz Symmetry using High Energy Astrophysics Observations
• Quantum Decoherence of Photons in the Presence of Hidden U(1)s
• Lorentz Violation on The Primordial Baryogenesis