Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2009-06-09
New J.Phys.11:085003,2009
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Minor text changes and some references corrected and updated. Version published in New Journal of Physics 11 (2009) 085003
Scientific paper
10.1088/1367-2630/11/8/085003
Ultrahigh energy cosmic rays that produce giant extensive showers of charged particles and photons when they interact in the Earth's atmosphere provide a unique tool to search for new physics. Of particular interest is the possibility of detecting a very small violation of Lorentz invariance such as may be related to the structure of space-time near the Planck scale of $\sim 10^{-35}$m. We discuss here the possible signature of Lorentz invariance violation on the spectrum of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays as compared with present observations of giant air showers. We also discuss the possibilities of using more sensitive detection techniques to improve searches for Lorentz invariance violation in the future. Using the latest data from the Pierre Auger Observatory, we derive a best fit to the LIV parameter of $3.0^{+1.5}_{-3.0} \times 10^{-23}$, corresponding to an upper limit of $4.5 \times 10^{-23}$ at a proton Lorentz factor of $\sim 2 \times 10^{11}$. This result has fundamental implications for quantum gravity models.
Scully Sean Thomas
Stecker Floyd W.
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