Bounds on Lorentz invariance violation from muon fluctuations at the Pierre Auger Observatory
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
2026-02-17 v1 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract
Quantum gravity theories often modify spacetime symmetries. In particular, Lorentz invariance may be violated when approaching the Planck scale. Although the scales at which interactions occur in extensive air showers induced by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays in the atmosphere are many orders of magnitude below the Planck scale, these violations might still be observable. In this work, the fluctuations in the number of muons in the extensive air showers measured at the Pierre Auger Observatory are exploited, for the first time, to constrain Lorentz invariance violations. The bounds derived in the hadronic sector are the strongest ever obtained, and do not rely on assumptions about the mass composition of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. The fluctuations in the number of muons constitute a new and powerful observable to further explore Lorentz invariance in a region of the parameter space not accessible to other observables.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.14720,
title = {Bounds on Lorentz invariance violation from muon fluctuations at the Pierre Auger Observatory},
author = {The Pierre Auger Collaboration and A. Abdul Halim and P. Abreu and M. Aglietta and I. Allekotte and K. Almeida Cheminant and R. Aloisio and J. Alvarez-Muñiz and A. Ambrosone and J. Ammerman Yebra and L. Anchordoqui and B. Andrada and L. Andrade Dourado and L. Apollonio and C. Aramo and E. Arnone and J. C. Arteaga Velázquez and P. Assis and G. Avila and E. Avocone and A. Bakalova and Y. Balibrea and A. Baluta and F. Barbato and A. Bartz Mocellin and J. P. Behler and C. Berat and M. E. Bertaina and M. Bianciotto and P. L. Biermann and V. Binet and K. Bismark and T. Bister and J. Biteau and J. Blazek and J. Blümer and M. Boháčová and D. Boncioli and C. Bonifazi and N. Borodai and J. Brack and P. G. Brichetto Orquera and A. Bueno and S. Buitink and M. Büsken and A. Bwembya and K. S. Caballero-Mora and S. Cabana-Freire and L. Caccianiga and J. Caraça-Valente and R. Caruso and A. Castellina and F. Catalani and G. Cataldi and L. Cazon and M. Cerda and B. Čermáková and A. Cermenati and K. Cerny and J. A. Chinellato and J. Chudoba and L. Chytka and R. W. Clay and A. C. Cobos Cerutti and R. Colalillo and R. Conceição and G. Consolati and M. Conte and F. Convenga and D. Correia dos Santos and P. J. Costa and C. E. Covault and M. Cristinziani and C. S. Cruz Sanchez and S. Dasso and K. Daumiller and B. R. Dawson and R. M. de Almeida and E. -T. de Boone and B. de Errico and J. de Jesús and S. J. de Jong and J. R. T. de Mello Neto and I. De Mitri and D. de Oliveira Franco and F. de Palma and V. de Souza and E. De Vito and A. Del Popolo and O. Deligny and N. Denner and K. Denner Syrokvas and L. Deval and A. di Matteo and C. Dobrigkeit and J. C. D'Olivo and L. M. Domingues Mendes and Y. Dominguez Ballesteros and Q. Dorosti and R. C. dos Anjos and J. Ebr and F. Ellwanger and R. Engel and I. Epicoco and M. Erdmann and A. Etchegoyen and C. Evoli and H. Falcke and G. Farrar and A. C. Fauth and T. Fehler and F. Feldbusch and A. Fernandes and M. Fernández Alonso and B. Fick and J. M. Figueira and P. Filip and A. Filipčič and T. Fitoussi and B. Flaggs and A. Franco and M. Freitas and T. Fujii and A. Fuster and C. Galea and B. García and C. Gaudu and P. L. Ghia and U. Giaccari and M. Giammarco and C. Glaser and F. Gobbi and F. Gollan and G. Golup and P. F. Gómez Vitale and J. P. Gongora and J. M. González and N. González and D. Góra and A. Gorgi and M. Gottowik and F. Guarino and G. P. Guedes and Y. C. Guerra and L. Gülzow and S. Hahn and P. Hamal and M. R. Hampel and P. Hansen and V. M. Harvey and A. Haungs and M. Havelka and T. Hebbeker and C. Hojvat and J. R. Hörandel and P. Horvath and M. Hrabovský and T. Huege and A. Insolia and P. G. Isar and M. Ismaiel and P. Janecek and V. Jilek and K. -H. Kampert and B. Keilhauer and A. Khakurdikar and V. V. Kizakke Covilakam and H. O. Klages and M. Kleifges and J. Köhler and F. Krieger and M. Kubatova and N. Kunka and B. L. Lago and N. Langner and N. Leal and M. A. Leigui de Oliveira and Y. Lema-Capeans and A. Letessier-Selvon and I. Lhenry-Yvon and L. Lopes and J. P. Lundquist and M. Mallamaci and S. Mancuso and D. Mandat and P. Mantsch and A. G. Mariazzi and C. Marinelli and I. C. Mariş and G. Marsella and D. Martello and S. Martinelli and O. Martínez Bravo and M. A. Martins and H. -J. Mathes and J. Matthews and G. Matthiae and E. Mayotte and S. Mayotte and P. O. Mazur and G. Medina-Tanco and J. Meinert and D. Melo and A. Menshikov and C. Merx and S. Michal and M. I. Micheletti and L. Miramonti and M. Mogarkar and S. Mollerach and F. Montanet and L. Morejon and K. Mulrey and R. Mussa and W. M. Namasaka and S. Negi and L. Nellen and K. Nguyen and G. Nicora and M. Niechciol and D. Nitz and D. Nosek and A. Novikov and V. Novotny and L. Nožka and A. Nucita and L. A. Núñez and S. E. Nuza and J. Ochoa and M. Olegario and C. Oliveira and L. Östman and M. Palatka and J. Pallotta and S. Panja and G. Parente and T. Paulsen and J. Pawlowsky and M. Pech and J. Pękala and R. Pelayo and V. Pelgrims and C. Pérez Bertolli and L. Perrone and S. Petrera and C. Petrucci and T. Pierog and M. Pimenta and M. Platino and B. Pont and M. Pourmohammad Shahvar and P. Privitera and C. Priyadarshi and M. Prouza and K. Pytel and S. Querchfeld and J. Rautenberg and D. Ravignani and J. V. Reginatto Akim and A. Reuzki and J. Ridky and F. Riehn and M. Risse and V. Rizi and E. Rodriguez and G. Rodriguez Fernandez and J. Rodriguez Rojo and S. Rossoni and M. Roth and E. Roulet and A. C. Rovero and A. Saftoiu and M. Saharan and F. Salamida and H. Salazar and G. Salina and P. Sampathkumar and N. San Martin and J. D. Sanabria Gomez and F. Sánchez and F. M. Sánchez Rodriguez and E. Santos and F. Sarazin and R. Sarmento and R. Sato and P. Savina and V. Scherini and H. Schieler and M. Schimp and D. Schmidt and O. Scholten and H. Schoorlemmer and P. Schovánek and F. G. Schröder and J. Schulte and T. Schulz and S. J. Sciutto and M. Scornavacche and A. Sedoski and S. Sehgal and S. U. Shivashankara and G. Sigl and K. Simkova and F. Simon and R. Šmída and S. Soares Sippert and P. Sommers and M. Stadelmaier and S. Stanič and J. Stasielak and P. Stassi and S. Strähnz and M. Straub and T. Suomijärvi and A. D. Supanitsky and Z. Svozilikova and Z. Szadkowski and F. Tairli and M. Tambone and A. Tapia and C. Taricco and C. Timmermans and O. Tkachenko and P. Tobiska and C. J. Todero Peixoto and B. Tomé and A. Travaini and P. Travnicek and C. Trimarelli and M. Tueros and M. Unger and R. Uzeiroska and L. Vaclavek and M. Vacula and I. Vaiman and J. F. Valdés Galicia and L. Valore and P. van Dillen and E. Varela and V. Vašíčková and A. Vásquez-Ramírez and D. Veberič and I. D. Vergara Quispe and S. Verpoest and V. Verzi and J. Vicha and S. Vorobiov and J. B. Vuta and C. Watanabe and A. A. Watson and A. Weindl and M. Weitz and L. Wiencke and H. Wilczyński and B. Wundheiler and B. Yue and A. Yushkov and E. Zas and D. Zavrtanik and M. Zavrtanik},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.14720},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
15 pages, 9 figures