Test of constancy of speed of light with rotating cryogenic optical resonators

Abstract

A test of Lorentz invariance for electromagnetic waves was performed by comparing the resonance frequencies of two optical resonators as a function of orientation in space. In terms of the Robertson-Mansouri-Sexl theory, we obtain $\beta -\delta -1/2=(+0.5\pm 3\pm 0.7)E-10$, a ten-fold improvement compared to the previous best results. We also set a first upper limit for a so far unknown parameter of the Standard Model Extension test theory, $|({\tilde{\kappa }}_{e-}{)}^{ZZ}|<2\cdot E-14$.

4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication Phys. Rev. A (2005)