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Neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts as a tool to explore quantum-gravity-induced Lorentz violation

Nature Physics volume 3, pages 87–90 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Lorentz-invariance violation (LIV) arises in various quantum-gravity1,2 theories, but typically at Planck energies that are not accessible on Earth. To test LIV, we must turn to astronomical observations2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. Time-of-flight measurements from astronomical sources have set the present limits on the LIV energy scale. According to existing models, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are accompanied by very high-energy neutrinos12,13. At these energies, the background level in neutrino detectors such as IceCube (currently under construction in Antarctica) is extremely low. We show that the detection of even a single neutrino from the same direction as a GRB, months after the burst, would be statistically significant and imply that the neutrino was associated with the burst. The detection of several delayed neutrinos from different bursts with compatible relations between their delay times, energies and distances would enable us to generically determine (or set limits on) LIV at levels that cannot be reached by any other method.

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Figure 1: LIV delay periods versus ‘background-free’ intervals.
Figure 2: The examinable ξ1 parameter space.
Figure 3: The examinable ξ2 parameter space.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the ISF center of excellence for High Energy Astrophysics.

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  1. Racah Institute for Physics, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel

    Uri Jacob & Tsvi Piran

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  1. Uri Jacob
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  2. Tsvi Piran
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Correspondence to Uri Jacob or Tsvi Piran.

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Jacob, U., Piran, T. Neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts as a tool to explore quantum-gravity-induced Lorentz violation. Nature Phys 3, 87–90 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys506

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