Gamma Ray Burst Neutrinos Probing Quantum Gravity

Very high energy, short wavelength, neutrinos may interact with the space-time foam predicted by theories of quantum gravity. They would propagate like light through a crystal lattice and be delayed, with the delay depending on the energy. This will appear to the observer as a violation of Lorenz invariance. Back of the envelope calculations imply that observations of neutrinos produced by gamma ray bursts may reach Planck-scale sensitivity. We revisit the problem considering two essential complications: the imprecise timing of the neutrinos associated with their poorly understood production mechanism in the source and the indirect nature of their energy measurement made by high energy neutrino telescopes.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Probing the quantum-gravity realm with slow atoms

For the study of Planck-scale modifications of the energy-momentum dispersion relation, which had been previously focused on the implications for ultrarelativistic (ultrafast) particles, we consider the possible role of experiments involving nonrelativistic particles, and particularly atoms. We extend a recent result establishing that measurements of "atom-recoil frequency" can provide insight that is valuable for some theoretical models. And from a broader perspective we analyze the complementarity of the nonrelativistic and the ultrarelativistic regimes in this research area.Comment: LaTex, 13 page

GLAST and Lorentz violation

We study possible Lorentz violations by means of gamma-ray bursts (GRB) with special focus on the Large Array Telescope (LAT) of GLAST. We simulate bursts with gtobssim and introduce a Lorentz violating term in the arrival times of the photons. We further perturb these arrival times and energies with a Gaussian distribution corresponding to the time resp. energy resolution of GLAST. We then vary the photon flux in gtobssim in order to derive a relation between the photon number and the standard deviation of the Lorentz violating term. We conclude with the fact that our maximum likelihood method as first developed in [1] is able to make a statement whether Nature breaks the Lorentz symmetry if the number of bursts with known redshifts is of the order of 100.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures and 2 tables, Accepted for publication by JCAP after a couple of revision

Quantum Spacetime Phenomenology

I review the current status of phenomenological programs inspired by quantum-spacetime research. I stress in particular the significance of results establishing that certain data analyses provide sensitivity to effects introduced genuinely at the Planck scale. And my main focus is on phenomenological programs that managed to affect the directions taken by studies of quantum-spacetime theories.Comment: 125 pages, LaTex. This V2 is updated and more detailed than the V1, particularly for quantum-spacetime phenomenology. The main text of this V2 is about 25% more than the main text of the V1. Reference list roughly double

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

GRBs and Lorentz Invariance Violation

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBS) are the brightest explosions observed. After a serendipitous discovery and forty years of search we begin to understand their origin (type Ic supernovae for long bursts and neutron star mergers for short ones) and how they operate. While the research on the nature of GRBs still goes on we turn to application of GRBs to study other phenomena. GRBs have an enormous potential to explore new regimes of ultra-relativistic flows and of very high magnetic fields. A lot have been said about the potential usage of GRBs to determine the conditions at the early universe. Here we discuss an application of GRBs that involve new physics – namely, using the arrival times of photons and neutrinos at different energies to set limits on Lorentz invariance violation that could arise from quantum gravity effects

Body mass index and complications following major gastrointestinal surgery: A prospective, international cohort study and meta-analysis

Aim Previous studies reported conflicting evidence on the effects of obesity on outcomes after gastrointestinal surgery. The aims of this study were to explore the relationship of obesity with major postoperative complications in an international cohort and to present a metaanalysis of all available prospective data. Methods This prospective, multicentre study included adults undergoing both elective and emergency gastrointestinal resection, reversal of stoma or formation of stoma. The primary end-point was 30-day major complications (Clavien\u2013Dindo Grades III\u2013V). A systematic search was undertaken for studies assessing the relationship between obesity and major complications after gastrointestinal surgery. Individual patient meta-analysis was used to analyse pooled results. Results This study included 2519 patients across 127 centres, of whom 560 (22.2%) were obese. Unadjusted major complication rates were lower in obese vs normal weight patients (13.0% vs 16.2%, respectively), but this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.863) on multivariate analysis for patients having surgery for either malignant or benign conditions. Individual patient meta-analysis demonstrated that obese patients undergoing surgery formalignancy were at increased risk of major complications (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.49\u20132.96, P < 0.001), whereas obese patients undergoing surgery for benign indications were at decreased risk (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.46\u20130.75, P < 0.001) compared to normal weight patients. Conclusions In our international data, obesity was not found to be associated with major complications following gastrointestinal surgery. Meta-analysis of available prospective data made a novel finding of obesity being associated with different outcomes depending on whether patients were undergoing surgery for benign or malignant disease