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A strong astrophysical constraint on the violation of special relativity by quantum gravity

Nature volume 424, pages 1019–1021 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Special relativity asserts that physical phenomena appear the same to all unaccelerated observers. This is called Lorentz symmetry and relates long wavelengths to short ones: if the symmetry is exact it implies that space-time must look the same at all length scales. Several approaches to quantum gravity, however, suggest that there may be a microscopic structure of space-time that leads to a violation of Lorentz symmetry. This might arise because of the discreteness1 or non-commutivity2 of space-time, or through the action of extra dimensions3. Here we determine a very strong constraint on a type of Lorentz violation that produces a maximum electron speed less than the speed of light. We use the observation of 100-MeV synchrotron radiation from the Crab nebula to improve the previous limit by a factor of 40 million, ruling out this type of Lorentz violation, and thereby providing an important constraint on theories of quantum gravity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. A. Aharonian, G. E. Allen, G. Amelino-Camelia and F. Stecker for discussions. This work was supported in part by the NSF.

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  1. Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742-4111, USA

    T. Jacobson, S. Liberati & D. Mattingly

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  1. T. Jacobson
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Correspondence to T. Jacobson.

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Jacobson, T., Liberati, S. & Mattingly, D. A strong astrophysical constraint on the violation of special relativity by quantum gravity. Nature 424, 1019–1021 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01882

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