24 research outputs found
Overview of the SME: Implications and Phenomenology of Lorentz Violation
The Standard Model Extension (SME) provides the most general
observer-independent field theoretical framework for investigations of Lorentz
violation. The SME lagrangian by definition contains all Lorentz-violating
interaction terms that can be written as observer scalars and that involve
particle fields in the Standard Model and gravitational fields in a generalized
theory of gravity. This includes all possible terms that could arise from a
process of spontaneous Lorentz violation in the context of a more fundamental
theory, as well as terms that explicitly break Lorentz symmetry. An overview of
the SME is presented, including its motivations and construction. Some of the
theoretical issues arising in the case of spontaneous Lorentz violation are
discussed, including the question of what happens to the Nambu-Goldstone modes
when Lorentz symmetry is spontaneously violated and whether a Higgs mechanism
can occur. A minimal version of the SME in flat Minkowski spacetime that
maintains gauge invariance and power-counting renormalizability is used to
search for leading-order signals of Lorentz violation. Recent Lorentz tests in
QED systems are examined, including experiments with photons, particle and
atomic experiments, proposed experiments in space and experiments with a
spin-polarized torsion pendulum.Comment: 40 pages, Talk presented at Special Relativity: Will it Survive the
Next 100 Years? Potsdam, Germany, February, 200
Signals for Lorentz Violation in Electrodynamics
An investigation is performed of the Lorentz-violating electrodynamics
extracted from the renormalizable sector of the general Lorentz- and
CPT-violating standard-model extension. Among the unconventional properties of
radiation arising from Lorentz violation is birefringence of the vacuum. Limits
on the dispersion of light produced by galactic and extragalactic objects
provide bounds of 3 x 10^{-16} on certain coefficients for Lorentz violation in
the photon sector. The comparative spectral polarimetry of light from
cosmologically distant sources yields stringent constraints of 2 x 10^{-32}.
All remaining coefficients in the photon sector are measurable in
high-sensitivity tests involving cavity-stabilized oscillators. Experimental
configurations in Earth- and space-based laboratories are considered that
involve optical or microwave cavities and that could be implemented using
existing technology.Comment: 23 pages REVTe
Rotating Resonator-Oscillator Experiments to Test Lorentz Invariance in Electrodynamics
In this work we outline the two most commonly used test theories (RMS and
SME) for testing Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI) of the photon. Then we develop
the general framework of applying these test theories to resonator experiments
with an emphasis on rotating experiments in the laboratory. We compare the
inherent sensitivity factors of common experiments and propose some new
configurations. Finally we apply the test theories to the rotating cryogenic
experiment at the University of Western Australia, which recently set new
limits in both the RMS and SME frameworks [hep-ph/0506074].Comment: Submitted to Lecture Notes in Physics, 36 pages, minor modifications,
updated list of reference
Recent Experimental Tests of Special Relativity
We review our recent Michelson-Morley (MM) and Kennedy-Thorndike (KT)
experiment, which tests Lorentz invariance in the photon sector, and report
first results of our ongoing atomic clock test of Lorentz invariance in the
matter sector. The MM-KT experiment compares a cryogenic microwave resonator to
a hydrogen maser, and has set the most stringent limit on a number of
parameters in alternative theories to special relativity. We also report first
results of a test of Lorentz invariance in the SME (Standard Model Extension)
matter sector, using Zeeman transitions in a laser cooled Cs atomic fountain
clock. We describe the experiment together with the theoretical model and
analysis. Recent experimental results are presented and we give a first
estimate of components of the parameters of the SME matter
sector. A full analysis of systematic effects is still in progress, and will be
the subject of a future publication together with our final results. If
confirmed, the present limits would correspond to first ever measurements of
some components, and improvements by 11 and 14 orders of
magnitude on others.Comment: 29 pages. Contribution to Springer Lecture Notes, "Special Relativity
- Will it survive the next 100 years ?", Proceedings, Potsdam, 200
Precision tests with a new class of dedicated ether-drift experiments
In principle, by accepting the idea of a non-zero vacuum energy, the physical
vacuum of present particle physics might represent a preferred reference frame.
By treating this quantum vacuum as a relativistic medium, the non-zero
energy-momentum flow expected in a moving frame should effectively behave as a
small thermal gradient and could, in principle, induce a measurable anisotropy
of the speed of light in a loosely bound system as a gas. We explore the
phenomenological implications of this scenario by considering a new class of
dedicated ether-drift experiments where arbitrary gaseous media fill the
resonating optical cavities. Our predictions cover most experimental set up and
should motivate precise experimental tests of these fundamental issues.Comment: Accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. Journ.
Forward modeling of collective Thomson scattering for Wendelstein 7-X plasmas: Electrostatic approximation
In this paper, we present a method for numerical computation of collective Thomson scattering (CTS). We developed a forward model, eCTS, in the electrostatic approximation and benchmarked it against a full electromagnetic model. Differences between the electrostatic and the electromagnetic models are discussed. The sensitivity of the results to the ion temperature and the plasma composition is demonstrated. We integrated the model into the Bayesian data analysis framework Minerva and used it for the analysis of noisy synthetic data sets produced by a full electromagnetic model. It is shown that eCTS can be used for the inference of the bulk ion temperature. The model has been used to infer the bulk ion temperature from the first CTS measurements on Wendelstein 7-X
Towards a new image processing system at Wendelstein 7-X: From spatial calibration to characterization of thermal events
Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is the most advanced fusion experiment in the stellarator line and is aimed at proving that the stellarator concept is suitable for a fusion reactor. One of the most important issues for fusion reactors is the monitoring of plasma facing components when exposed to very high heat loads, through the use of visible and infrared (IR) cameras. In this paper, a new image processing system for the analysis of the strike lines on the inboard limiters from the first W7-X experimental campaign is presented. This system builds a model of the IR cameras through the use of spatial calibration techniques, helping to characterize the strike lines by using the information given by real spatial coordinates of each pixel. The characterization of the strike lines is made in terms of position, size, and shape, after projecting the camera image in a 2D grid which tries to preserve the curvilinear surface distances between points. The description of the strike-line shape is made by means of the Fourier Descriptors
Experimental confirmation of efficient island divertor operation and successful neoclassical transport optimization in Wendelstein 7-X
We present recent highlights from the most recent operation phases of Wendelstein 7-X, the most advanced stellarator in the world. Stable detachment with good particle exhaust, low impurity content, and energy confinement times exceeding 100 ms, have been maintained for tens of seconds. Pellet fueling allows for plasma phases with reduced ion-temperature-gradient turbulence, and during such phases, the overall confinement is so good (energy confinement times often exceeding 200 ms) that the attained density and temperature profiles would not have been possible in less optimized devices, since they would have had neoclassical transport losses exceeding the heating applied in W7-X. This provides proof that the reduction of neoclassical transport through magnetic field optimization is successful. W7-X plasmas generally show good impurity screening and high plasma purity, but there is evidence of longer impurity confinement times during turbulence-suppressed phases.EC/H2020/633053/EU/Implementation of activities described in the Roadmap to Fusion during Horizon 2020 through a Joint programme of the members of the EUROfusion consortium/ EUROfusio