Interferometers as Probes of Planckian Quantum Geometry

A theory of position of massive bodies is proposed that results in an observable quantum behavior of geometry at the Planck scale, $t_P$. Departures from classical world lines in flat spacetime are described by Planckian noncommuting operators for position in different directions, as defined by interactions with null waves. The resulting evolution of position wavefunctions in two dimensions displays a new kind of directionally-coherent quantum noise of transverse position. The amplitude of the effect in physical units is predicted with no parameters, by equating the number of degrees of freedom of position wavefunctions on a 2D spacelike surface with the entropy density of a black hole event horizon of the same area. In a region of size $L$, the effect resembles spatially and directionally coherent random transverse shear deformations on timescale $\approx L/c$ with typical amplitude $\approx \sqrt{ct_PL}$. This quantum-geometrical "holographic noise" in position is not describable as fluctuations of a quantized metric, or as any kind of fluctuation, dispersion or propagation effect in quantum fields. In a Michelson interferometer the effect appears as noise that resembles a random Planckian walk of the beamsplitter for durations up to the light crossing time. Signal spectra and correlation functions in interferometers are derived, and predicted to be comparable with the sensitivities of current and planned experiments. It is proposed that nearly co-located Michelson interferometers of laboratory scale, cross-correlated at high frequency, can test the Planckian noise prediction with current technology.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, Latex. To appear in Physical Review

The Theory of a Quantum Noncanonical Field in Curved Spacetimes

Much attention has been recently devoted to the possibility that quantum gravity effects could lead to departures from Special Relativity in the form of a deformed Poincar\`e algebra. These proposals go generically under the name of Doubly or Deformed Special Relativity (DSR). In this article we further explore a recently proposed class of quantum field theories, involving noncanonically commuting complex scalar fields, which have been shown to entail a DSR-like symmetry. An open issue for such theories is whether the DSR-like symmetry has to be taken as a physically relevant symmetry, or if in fact the "true" symmetries of the theory are just rotations and translations while boost invariance has to be considered broken. We analyze here this issue by extending the known results to curved spacetime under both of the previous assumptions. We show that if the symmetry of the free theory is taken to be a DSR-like realization of the Poincar\'e symmetry, then it is not possible to render such a symmetry a gauge symmetry of the curved physical spacetime. However, it is possible to introduce an auxiliary spacetime which allows to describe the theory as a standard quantum field theory in curved spacetime. Alternatively, taking the point of view that the noncanonical commutation of the fields actually implies a breakdown of boost invariance, the physical spacetime manifold has to be foliated in surfaces of simultaneity and the field theory can be coupled to gravity by making use of the ADM prescription.Comment: 9 pages, no figure

Non-local on-shell field redefinition for the SME

This work instigates a study of non-local field mappings within the Lorentz- and CPT-violating Standard-Model Extension (SME). An example of such a mapping is constructed explicitly, and the conditions for the existence of its inverse are investigated. It is demonstrated that the associated field redefinition can remove b-type Lorentz violation from free SME fermions in certain situations. These results are employed to obtain explicit expressions for the corresponding Lorentz-breaking momentum-space eigenspinors and their orthogonality relations.Comment: 12 pages, REVTeX

Synchrotron Radiation in the Standard Model Extension

We obtain a system of exact solutions of the Dirac equation for an electron moving in a constant homogeneous external magnetic field with account of its vacuum magnetic moment and assumed Lorentz invariance violation in the minimal CPT-odd form in the framework of the Standard Model Extension. Using these solutions, characteristics of the particle synchrotron radiation are calculated, and possible observable effects caused by the Lorentz non-invariant interaction are described. We demonstrate that the angular distribution of the radiation has specific asymmetry, which can be explained as a consequence of non-conservation of transversal electron polarization in the presence of a background Lorentz non-invariant condensate field.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Modified dispersion relations and the response of the rotating Unruh-DeWitt detector

We study the response of a rotating monopole detector that is coupled to a massless scalar field which is described by a non-linear dispersion relation in flat spacetime. Since it does not seem to be possible to evaluate the response of the rotating detector analytically, we resort to numerical computations. Interestingly, unlike the case of the uniformly accelerated detector that has been considered recently, we find that defining the transition probability rate of the rotating detector poses no difficulties. Further, we show that the response of the rotating detector can be computed {\it exactly}\vee (albeit, numerically) even when it is coupled to a field that is governed by a non-linear dispersion relation. We also discuss the response of the rotating detector in the presence of a cylindrical boundary on which the scalar field is constrained to vanish. While super-luminal dispersion relations hardly affect the standard results, we find that sub-luminal dispersion relations can lead to relatively large modifications.Comment: V1: 11 pages, 3 figures; V2: 12 pages, 3 figures, considerably revised, we now calculate the detector response exactly; V3: 14 pages, 3 figures, minor changes, to appear in Phys. Rev.

The Casimir Force in a Lorentz Violating Theory

We study the effects of the minimal extension of the standard model including Lorentz violation on the Casimir force between two parallel conducting plates in vacuum. We provide explicit solutions for the electromagnetic field using scalar field analogy, for both the cases in which the Lorentz violating terms come from the CPT-even or CPT-odd terms. We also calculate the effects of the Lorentz violating terms for a fermion field between two parallel conducting plates and analyze the modifications of the Casimir force due to the modifications of the Dirac equation. In all cases under consideration, the standard formulas for the Casimir force are modified by either multiplicative or additive correction factors, the latter case exhibiting different dependence on the distance between the plates.Comment: 20 pages, no figures, references added, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Lorentz-symmetry violating decays in a medium

Various decay processes, such as the decay of a spin-1 particle into two photons or the gravitational decay of a spin-1/2 fermion, are forbidden in the vacuum by a combination of requirements, including angular momentum conservation, Lorentz invariance and gauge invariance. We show that such processes can occur in a medium, such as a thermal background of particles, even if it is homogeneous and isotropic. We carry out a model-independent analysis of the vertex function for such processes in terms of a set of form factors, and show that the amplitude can be non-zero while remaining consistent with the symmetry principles mentioned above. The results simulate Lorentz symmetry violating effects, although in this case they arise from completely Lorentz-invariant physics.Comment: 16 pages, Latex, no figure

Bounds on Lorentz and CPT Violation from the Earth-Ionosphere Cavity

Electromagnetic resonant cavities form the basis of many tests of Lorentz invariance involving photons. The effects of some forms of Lorentz violation scale with cavity size. We investigate possible signals of violations in the naturally occurring resonances formed in the Earth-ionosphere cavity. Comparison with observed resonances places the first terrestrial constraints on coefficients associated with dimension-three Lorentz-violating operators at the level of 10^{-20} GeV.Comment: 8 pages REVTe