A limit on the variation of the speed of light arising from quantum gravity effects

A.A. Abdo; Markus Ackermann; Marco Ajello; K. Asano; William B. Atwood; Magnus Axelsson; Luca Baldini; Jean Ballet; Guido Barbiellini; Matthew G. Baring; D. Bastieri; K. Bechtol; R. Bellazzini; B. Berenji; P. N. Bhat; E. Bissaldi; E.D. Bloom; E. Bonamente; J. Bonnell; A.W. Borgland; A. Bouvier; J. Bregeon; A. Brez; M. S. Briggs; M. Brigida; Pascal Bruel; J.M. Burgess; T.H. Burnett; G. A. Caliandro; R. A. Cameron; P. A. Caraveo; J.M. Casandjian; C. Cecchi; O. Celik; V. Chaplin; E. Charles; C.C. Cheung; J. Chiang; S. Ciprini; R. Claus; J. Cohen-Tanugi; L. R. Cominsky; V. Connaughton; J. Conrad; S. Cutini; C.D. Dermer; A. de Angelis; F. de Palma; S.W. Digel; B. L. Dingus; E. Do Couto E Silva; P. S. Drell; R. Dubois; D. Dumora; C. Farnier; C. Favuzzi; S.J. Fegan; J. Finke; G. Fishman; W.B. Focke; L. Foschini; Y. Fukazawa; S. Funk; P. Fusco; F. Gargano; D. Gasparrini; N. Gehrels; S. Germani; L. Gibby; B. Giebels; N. Giglietto; F. Giordano; T. Glanzman; G. Godfrey; J. Granot; J. Greiner; I.A. Grenier; M.H. Grondin; J.E. Grove; D. Grupe; L. Guillemot; S. Guiriec; Y. Hanabata; A. K. Harding; M. Hayashida; E. Hays; E.A. Hoversten; R.E. Hugues; G. Jóhannesson; A. S. Johnson; R. P. Johnson; W. N. Johnson; T. Kamae; H. Katagiri; J. Kataoka; N. Kawai; M. Kerr; R. M. Kippen; Jürgen Knödlseder; D. Kocevski; C. Kouveliotou; F. Kuehn; M. Kuss; J. Lande; L. Latronico; M. Lemoine-Goumard; F. Longo; F. Loparco; B. Lott; M.N. Lovellette; P. Lubrano; G.M. Madjeski; A. Makeev; M.N. Mazziotta; S. Mcbreen; J.E. Mcenery; S. Mcglynn; P. Mészáros; C. Meurer; P.F. Michelson; W. Mitthumsiri; T. Mizuno; A.A. Moiseev; C. Monte; M.E. Monzani; E. Moretti; A. Morselli; I. V. Moskalenko; S. Murgia; T. Nakamori; P.L. Nolan; J.P. Norris; E. Nuss; M. Ohno; T. Ohsugi; N. Omodei; E. Orlando; J.F. Ormes; M. Ozaki; W. S. Paciesas; D. Paneque; J.H. Panetta; D. Parent; V. Pelassa; M. Pepe; M. Pesce-Rollins; V. Petrosian; F. Piron; T.A. Porter; R. Preece; S. Rainò; E. Ramirez-Ruiz; R. Rando; M. Razzano; S. Razzaque; A. Reimer; O. Reimer; T. Reposeur; S. Ritz; L.S. Rochester; A.Y. Rodriguez; M. Roth; F. Ryde; H. F.-W. Sadrozinski; D. Sanchez; A. Sander; P.M. Saz Parkinson; J.D. Scargle; T. L. Schalk; G. Sgro; E.J. Siskind; D.A. Smith; P.D. Smith; G. Spandre; P. Spinelli; M. Stamatikos; F. W. Stecker; M.S. Strickman; D.J. Suson; H. Tajima; H. Takahashi; T. Takahashi; T. Tanaka; J.B. Thayer; J.G. Thayer; D.J. Thompson; L. Tibaldo; K. Toma; D.F. Torres; G. Tosti; E. Troja; Y. Uchiyama; T. Uehara; T.L. Usher; A. J. van Der Horst; V. Vasileiou; N. Vilchez; V. Vitale; A. von Kienlin; A. P. Waite; P. Wang; C. Wilson-Hodge; B. L. Winer; K.S. Wood; X. F. Wu; R. Yamazaki; T. Ylinen; M. Ziegler

doi:10.1038/nature08574

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A limit on the variation of the speed of light arising from quantum gravity effects

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A limit on the variation of the speed of light arising from quantum gravity effects

A.A. Abdo, Markus Ackermann, Marco Ajello, K. Asano, William B. Atwood, Magnus Axelsson, Luca Baldini, Jean Ballet, Guido Barbiellini, Matthew G. Baring, …

Nature, Vol.462, pp.331-334

19/11/2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08574

Abstract

GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

HIGH-ENERGY

VIOLATION

EMISSION

PHOTONS

LORENTZ

TESTS

FOAM

A cornerstone of Einstein's special relativity is Lorentz invariance-the postulate that all observers measure exactly the same speed of light in vacuum, independent of photon-energy. While special relativity assumes that there is no fundamental length-scale associated with such invariance, there is a fundamental scale (the Planck scale, l(Planck) approximate to 1.62 x 10(-33) cm or E-Planck = M(Planck)c(2) approximate to 1.22 x 10(19) GeV), at which quantum effects are expected to strongly affect the nature of space-time. There is great interest in the (not yet validated) idea that Lorentz invariance might break near the Planck scale. A key test of such violation of Lorentz invariance is a possible variation of photon speed with energy(1-7). Even a tiny variation in photon speed, when accumulated over cosmological light-travel times, may be revealed by observing sharp features in gamma-ray burst (GRB) light-curves(2). Here we report the detection of emission up to similar to 31GeV from the distant and short GRB090510. We find no evidence for the violation of Lorentz invariance, and place a lower limit of 1.2E(Planck) on the scale of a linear energy dependence (or an inverse wavelength dependence), subject to reasonable assumptions about the emission (equivalently we have an upper limit of l(Planck)/1.2 on the length scale of the effect). Our results disfavour quantum-gravity theories(3,6,7) in which the quantum nature of space-time on a very small scale linearly alters the speed of light.

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Title: A limit on the variation of the speed of light arising from quantum gravity effects
Creators - without role: A.A. Abdo - National Academy of Sciences
Markus Ackermann - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
Marco Ajello - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
K. Asano - Tokyo Institute of Technology
William B. Atwood - University of California, Santa Cruz
Magnus Axelsson - Stockholm University
Luca Baldini - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
Jean Ballet - Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation
Guido Barbiellini - University of Trieste
Matthew G. Baring - Rice University
D. Bastieri - University of Padua
K. Bechtol - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
R. Bellazzini - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
B. Berenji - Stanford University
P. N. Bhat - University of Alabama in Huntsville
E. Bissaldi - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
E.D. Bloom - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
E. Bonamente - University of Perugia
J. Bonnell - Goddard Space Flight Center
A.W. Borgland - Stanford University
A. Bouvier - SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
J. Bregeon - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
A. Brez - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
M. S. Briggs - University of Alabama in Huntsville
M. Brigida - Polytechnic University of Bari
Pascal Bruel - École Polytechnique
J.M. Burgess - University of Alabama in Huntsville
T.H. Burnett - University of Washington
G. A. Caliandro - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
R. A. Cameron - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
P. A. Caraveo - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Milano
J.M. Casandjian - Université Paris Cité
C. Cecchi - University of Perugia
O. Celik
V. Chaplin - University of Alabama in Huntsville
E. Charles - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
C.C. Cheung - United States Naval Research Laboratory
J. Chiang - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
S. Ciprini - University of Perugia
R. Claus - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J. Cohen-Tanugi - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
L. R. Cominsky - Sonoma State University
V. Connaughton - University of Alabama in Huntsville
J. Conrad
S. Cutini - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
C.D. Dermer - United States Naval Research Laboratory
A. de Angelis - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
F. de Palma - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
S.W. Digel - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
B. L. Dingus - Los Alamos National Laboratory
E. Do Couto E Silva
P. S. Drell - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
R. Dubois - Stanford University
D. Dumora - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
C. Farnier - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
C. Favuzzi - Polytechnic University of Bari
S.J. Fegan - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
J. Finke - National Academy of Sciences
G. Fishman - Marshall Space Flight Center
W.B. Focke - Stanford University
L. Foschini - Brera Astronomical Observatory
Y. Fukazawa - Hiroshima University
S. Funk - Stanford University
P. Fusco - Polytechnic University of Bari
F. Gargano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
D. Gasparrini - Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
N. Gehrels - Goddard Space Flight Center
S. Germani - University of Perugia
L. Gibby - Jacobs
B. Giebels - Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet
N. Giglietto - Polytechnic University of Bari
F. Giordano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
T. Glanzman - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
G. Godfrey - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J. Granot - University of Hertfordshire
J. Greiner - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
I.A. Grenier - CEA Paris-Saclay
M.H. Grondin - Université de Bordeaux
J.E. Grove - United States Naval Research Laboratory
D. Grupe - Pennsylvania State University
L. Guillemot - Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
S. Guiriec - University of Alabama in Huntsville
Y. Hanabata - Hiroshima University
A. K. Harding - Goddard Space Flight Center
M. Hayashida - Stanford University
E. Hays - Goddard Space Flight Center
E.A. Hoversten - Pennsylvania State University
R.E. Hugues
G. Jóhannesson - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
A. S. Johnson - University of California, Santa Cruz
R. P. Johnson - University of California, Santa Cruz
W. N. Johnson - United States Naval Research Laboratory
T. Kamae - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
H. Katagiri - Hiroshima University
J. Kataoka
N. Kawai
M. Kerr - University of Washington
R. M. Kippen - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Jürgen Knödlseder - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier
D. Kocevski - Stanford University
C. Kouveliotou - Marshall Space Flight Center
F. Kuehn - The Ohio State University
M. Kuss - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
J. Lande - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
L. Latronico - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
M. Lemoine-Goumard - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
F. Longo - University of Trieste
F. Loparco - Polytechnic University of Bari
B. Lott - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
M.N. Lovellette - United States Naval Research Laboratory
P. Lubrano - University of Perugia
G.M. Madjeski
A. Makeev - George Mason University
M.N. Mazziotta - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bari
S. Mcbreen - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
J.E. Mcenery - Goddard Space Flight Center
S. Mcglynn - KTH Royal Institute of Technology
P. Mészáros - Pennsylvania State University
C. Meurer
P.F. Michelson - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
W. Mitthumsiri - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
T. Mizuno - Hiroshima University
A.A. Moiseev
C. Monte - Polytechnic University of Bari
M.E. Monzani - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
E. Moretti - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste
A. Morselli - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata
I. V. Moskalenko - Stanford University
S. Murgia - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
T. Nakamori
P.L. Nolan - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J.P. Norris - University of Denver
E. Nuss - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
M. Ohno - Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
T. Ohsugi - Hiroshima University
N. Omodei - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
E. Orlando - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
J.F. Ormes - University of Denver
M. Ozaki - Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
W. S. Paciesas - University of Alabama in Huntsville
D. Paneque - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J.H. Panetta - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
D. Parent - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
V. Pelassa - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
M. Pepe - University of Perugia
M. Pesce-Rollins - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
V. Petrosian - Stanford University
F. Piron - Laboratoire de Physique Théorique
T.A. Porter - University of California, Santa Cruz
R. Preece - University of Alabama in Huntsville
S. Rainò - Polytechnic University of Bari
E. Ramirez-Ruiz - University of California, Santa Cruz
R. Rando - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova
M. Razzano - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
S. Razzaque - National Academy of Sciences
A. Reimer - Universität Innsbruck
O. Reimer - Universität Innsbruck
T. Reposeur - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
S. Ritz - University of California, Santa Cruz
L.S. Rochester - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
A.Y. Rodriguez - Institute of Space Sciences
M. Roth - University of Washington
F. Ryde - KTH Royal Institute of Technology
H. F.-W. Sadrozinski - University of California, Santa Cruz
D. Sanchez - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
A. Sander - The Ohio State University
P.M. Saz Parkinson
J.D. Scargle - Ames Research Center
T. L. Schalk - University of California, Santa Cruz
G. Sgro
E.J. Siskind - Real Time Tomography
D.A. Smith - Laboratoire de Physique des deux infinis Bordeaux
P.D. Smith - The Ohio State University
G. Spandre - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa
P. Spinelli - Polytechnic University of Bari
M. Stamatikos - The Ohio State University
F. W. Stecker - Goddard Space Flight Center
M.S. Strickman - United States Naval Research Laboratory
D.J. Suson - Purdue University Northwest
H. Tajima - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
H. Takahashi - Hiroshima University
T. Takahashi - Hiroshima University
T. Tanaka - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J.B. Thayer - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
J.G. Thayer - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
D.J. Thompson - Goddard Space Flight Center
L. Tibaldo - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova
K. Toma - Pennsylvania State University
D.F. Torres - Institute of Space Sciences
G. Tosti - University of Perugia
E. Troja - Goddard Space Flight Center
Y. Uchiyama - Stanford University
T. Uehara - Hiroshima University
T.L. Usher - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
A. J. van Der Horst - Marshall Space Flight Center
V. Vasileiou - Goddard Space Flight Center
N. Vilchez - Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier
V. Vitale - Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata
A. von Kienlin - Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
A. P. Waite - Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
P. Wang - Stanford University
C. Wilson-Hodge - Marshall Space Flight Center
B. L. Winer - The Ohio State University
K.S. Wood - United States Naval Research Laboratory
X. F. Wu - Pennsylvania State University
R. Yamazaki - Hiroshima University
T. Ylinen
M. Ziegler - University of California, Santa Cruz
Publication Details: Nature, Vol.462, pp.331-334
Identifiers: 9934662209311
Academic Unit: Université de Montpellier
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: in2p3-00436584