Editor's Summary

19 November 2009

GRB 090510: a test for special relativity

Observations of the distant and short -ray burst GRB 090510 with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have provided an opportunity to test a central prediction of Einstein's special theory of relativity — the Lorentz invariance. This holds that all observers measure exactly the same speed of light in a vacuum, independent of photon energy. A key test of the violation of Lorentz invariance is a possible variation of photon speed with energy. Accumulated over cosmological light-travel times, even a tiny variation in photon speed should become observable — as for instance sharp features in the light curve of a -ray burst. No evidence for the violation of Lorentz invariance was found in the GRB 090510 spectrum, at least down to a limit of the Planck length divided by 1.2. This argues against quantum-gravity theories where the quantum nature of space–time linearly alters the speed of light with photon energy.

News and Views: Astrophysics: Burst of support for relativity

Light from a distant -ray burst backs up a key prediction of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity — that photon speed is the same regardless of energy. But it might set the stage for evolution of the theory.

Giovanni Amelino-Camelia

doi:10.1038/462291a

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

A. A. Abdo, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, K. Asano, W. B. Atwood, M. Axelsson, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, G. Barbiellini, M. 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, P. Bruel, J. M. Burgess, T. H. Burnett, G. A. Caliandro, R. A. Cameron, P. A. Caraveo, J. M. Casandjian, C. Cecchi, Ö. Çelik, 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. Hughes, G. Jóhannesson, A. S. Johnson, R. P. Johnson, W. N. Johnson, T. Kamae, H. Katagiri, J. Kataoka, N. Kawai, M. Kerr, R. M. Kippen, J. 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. Madejski, 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, C. Sgrò, 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

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (234K) | Supplementary information