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One of the experimental tests of Lorentz invariance violation is to measure the helicity dependence of the propagation velocity of photons originating in distant cosmological obejcts. Using a recent determination of the distance of the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-05-28 P. Laurent , D. Gotz , P. Binetruy , S. Covino , A. Fernandez-Soto

One of the cornerstones of modern physics is Einstein's special relativity, with its constant speed of light and zero photon mass assumptions. Constraint on the rest mass m_{\gamma} of photons is a fundamental way to test Einstein's theory,…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-10-03 Bo Zhang , Ya-Ting Chai , Yuan-Chuan Zou , Xue-Feng Wu

The Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) and the local Lorentz invariance (LLI) are two major assumptions of General Relativity (GR). The MICROSCOPE mission, currently operating, will perform a test of the WEP with a precision of $10^{-15}$.…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2017-06-01 H. Pihan-Le Bars , C. Guerlin , P. Wolf

Testing Lorentz invariance is essential as it is one of the pillars of modern physics. Moreover, its violation is foreseen in several popular Quantum Gravity models. Several authors study the effects of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) in…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-12-13 Rodrigo Guedes Lang , Vitor de Souza

In the framework of general relativity (GR), gravitational waves (GWs) travel at the speed of light across all frequencies. However, massive gravity and weak equivalence principle (WEP) violation may lead to frequency-dependent variations…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2025-01-07 Xian-Liang Wang , Shu-Cheng Yang , Wen-Biao Han

A cornerstone of special relativity is Lorentz Invariance, the postulate that all observers measure exactly the same photon speeds independently on the photon energies. However, a hypothesized structure of spacetime may alter this…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2017-08-23 Vlasios Vasileiou

Cosmic rays and air showers at ultra-high energy are unique tools to test the validity of Lorentz invariance. A brief overview is given on such tests focusing on isotropic, non-birefringent Lorentz violation (LV) in the photon sector. Based…

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Physics 2022-08-19 Markus Risse

We propose tests of the weak equivalence principle (WEP) using a torsion balance, in which superposition of energy eigenstates are created in a controllable way for the test masses. After general considerations on the significance of tests…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-12-09 Roberto Onofrio , Alexander R. H. Smith , Lorenza Viola

Tests of the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) probe the foundations of physics. Ever since Galileo in the early 1600s, WEP tests have attracted some of the best experimentalists of any time. Progress has come in bursts, each stimulated by…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2018-08-01 Anna M. Nobili , Alberto Anselmi

We investigate the effects of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) on photon interactions, considering both intergalactic propagation (Breit-Wheeler process) and atmospheric interactions (Bethe-Heitler process). By incorporating LIV into the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-09-19 Denise Boncioli , Valdir Barbosa Bezerra , Matteo Giammarco , Iarley Pereira Lobo , Pedro Morais , Francesco Salamida

Lorentz invariance (LI) is a foundational principle of modern physics, yet its possible violation (LIV) remains an intriguing window to physics beyond the Standard Model. While stringent constraints exist in the electromagnetic and hadronic…

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Physics 2025-12-30 Z. Kepuladze , J. Jejelava

This is an introductory review about the on-going search for a signal of Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) in cosmic rays. We first summarise basic aspects of cosmic rays, focusing on rays of ultra high energy (UHECRs). We discuss the…

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Physics 2015-05-13 Wolfgang Bietenholz

The aim of this brief review is to present a case study of how astrophysics data can be used to get bounds on Lorentz-violating parameters. For this purpose, a particularly simple Lorentz-violating modification of the Maxwell theory of…

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology · Physics 2008-10-14 F. R. Klinkhamer

Familiar concepts in physics, such as Lorentz symmetry, are expected to be broken at energies approaching the Planck energy scale as predicted by several quantum-gravity theories. However, such very large energies are unreachable by current…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2023-11-22 Hassan Abdalla , Garret Cotter , Michael Backes , Eli Kasai , Markus Böttcher

Low-frequency gravitational-wave astronomy can perform precision tests of general relativity and probe fundamental physics in a regime previously inaccessible. A space-based detector will be a formidable tool to explore gravity's role in…

Due to their cosmological distances high-energy astrophysical sources allow for unprecedented tests of fundamental physics. Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) comprise among the most sensitive laboratories for exploring the violation of the central…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2023-12-19 Valeri Vardanyan , Volodymyr Takhistov , Metin Ata , Kohta Murase

The Standard-Model Extension provides a framework to systematically investigate possible violation of the Lorentz symmetry. Concerning gravity, the linearized version was extensively examined. We here cast the first set of experimental…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2019-04-17 Lijing Shao , Quentin G. Bailey

The Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP), stating that two bodies of different compositions and/or mass fall at the same rate in a gravitational field (universality of free fall), is at the very foundation of General Relativity. The MICROSCOPE…

Time-of-flight measurements of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos can be used to probe Lorentz invariance, a pillar of modern physics. If Lorentz-invariance violation (LIV) occurs, it could cause neutrinos to slow down, with the delay…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-07-01 Mauricio Bustamante , John Ellis , Rostislav Konoplich , Alexander S. Sakharov

Gamma-ray observations provide sensitive tests of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). At present the most sensitive tests come from observations of transient events, gamma-ray bursts and flaring AGN. Disadvantages of transients are that an…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2012-08-13 A. Nepomuk Otte