Testing Relativity at High Energies Using Spaceborne Detectors

Abstract

(ABRIDGED) The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will measure the spectra of distant extragalactic sources of high energy gamma-rays. GLAST can look for energy dependent propagation effects from such sources as a signal of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). Such sources should also exhibit high energy spectral cutoffs from pair production interactions with low energy photons. The properties of such cutoffs can also be used to test LIV. Detectors to measure gamma-ray polarization can look for the depolarizing effect of space-time birefingence predicted by loop quantum gravity. A spaceborne detector array looking down on Earth to study extensive air showers produced by ultrahigh energy cosmic rays can study their spectral properties and look for a possible deviation from the predicted GZK effect as another signal of LIV.

14 pages, Text of invitated talk presented at the "From Quantum to Cosmos: Fundamental Physics Studies from Space" meeting. More references added

References in corpus (31)

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• High-Energy Tests of Lorentz Invariance
• Nonstandard optics from quantum spacetime
• Extension of the Cosmic-Ray Energy Spectrum Beyond the Predicted Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min Cutoff
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• Robust Limits on Lorentz Violation from Gamma-Ray Bursts
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• New limits on Planck scale Lorentz violation in QED
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• Astrophysical limits on quantum gravity motivated birefringence
• Re-Analysis of Polarization in the Gamma-ray flux of GRB 021206
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• Gamma-Ray Burst Polarization: Limits from RHESSI Measurements
• Synchrotron Radiation from the Crab Nebula Discriminates between Models of Space-Time Foam
• POLAR, a compact detector for Gamma Ray Bursts photon polarization measurements
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• Loop Quantum Gravity and Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays
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• Testing Lorentz Invariance with GRB021206
• Reanalysis of the high energy cutoff of the 1997 Mkn 501 TeV energy spectrum
• Space-Time Foam Effects on Particle Interactions and the GZK Cutoff
• Lorentz Invariance Violation and the Spectrum and Source Power of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays
• Constraints on Lorentz Invariance Violating Quantum Gravity and Large Extra Dimensions Models using High Energy Gamma Ray Observations
• Beam Test of a Prototype Detector Array for the PoGO Astronomical Hard X-Ray/Soft Gamma-Ray Polarimeter
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