An experiment aimed at detecting a DC voltage across a conductor induced by the steady magnetic field of a coil, carried out in 1998, provided a positive (although preliminary) evidence for such an effect, which might be interpreted as a breakdown of local Lorentz invariance. We repeated in 1999 the same experiment with a different experimental apparatus and a sensitivity improved by two orders of magnitude. The results obtained are discussed here in detail. They confirm the findings of the previous experiment, and show, among the others, that the effect is independent of the direction of the current. A possible interpretation of the results is given in terms of a geometric description of the gravitational and the electromagnetic interactions by means of phenomenological, energy-dependent metrics.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
C. M. Will, Theory and Experiment in Gravitational Physics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, rev.ed.1993), and references therein.
See, e.g., J. D. Bjorken, and S. D. Drell, Relativistic Quantum Fields (McGraw-Hill, NY, 1965), Sec. 11.1.
Cardone F. and Mignani R. (2004). Energy and Geometry—An Introduction to Deformed Special Relativity. World Scientific, Singapore and references therein.
H. P Robertson, Rev. Mod. Phys. 21, 378 (1949); R. M. Mansouri and R. U. Sexl, Gen. Rel. Grav. 8, 497, 515; 809 (1977).
S. Buchman et al., in Proceedings of 52nd Frequency Control Symposium (IEEE, Washington, DC, 1998), p. 534; C. Lämmerzahl et al. , Class. Quantum Grav. 18, 2499 (2001).
S. Coleman and S. L. Glashow, Phys. Lett. B 405, 249 (1997); Phys. Rev. D 59, 116008 (1999), and references therein.
R. Jackiw, Chern-Simons Violation of Lorentz and PCT Symmetries in Electrodynamics (hep-ph/9811322, 13 Nov. 1998), and references therein.
See, e.g., A. Kostelecky ed., CPT and Lorentz Symmetry I, II, III (World Scientific Singapore, 1999, 2002, 2004), and references therein.
F. Cardone and R.Mignani, On a Nonlocal Relativistic Kinematics (INFN preprint n.910, Roma, 1992).
F. Cardone, M. Francaviglia, and R. Mignani, Gen. Rel. Grav. 31, 1049 (1999), and references therein.
F. Cardone and R.Mignani, Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 14, 3799 (1999).
C. O. Alley, Proper time experiments in gravitational fields with atomic clocks, aircraft, and laser light pulses, in Quantum Optics, Experimental Gravity, and Measurement Theory, P. Meystre and M. O. Scully., eds. (Plenum, 1983), p. 363.
Bartocci U., Cardone F., and Mignani R. (2001). Found. Phys. Lett. 14:51
Cardone F. and Mignani R. (2000). Phys. Essays 13:643
F. Cardone and R. Mignani, On possible experimental evidence for a breakdown of local Lorentz invariance, in Gravitation, Electromagnetism and Cosmology: Toward a New Synthesis (Proceedings of International Conference On Redshifts and Gravitation in a Relativistic Universe, Cesena, Italy, Sept. 17–20, 1999), K. Rudnicki, ed. (Apeiron, Montreal, 2001), p. 165; On the limit of validity of Lorentz invariance, “Proceedings International Conference on Physical Interpretations of Relativity Theory VII ” (Imperial College, London, 15–18 Sept. 2000), Late Papers and Supplementary Papers, M. Duffy, ed. p. 40.
Schiff L.I., Barnhill M.V. (1967). Phys. Rev. 151:1067
Dessler A.J., Michel F.C., Rorschach H.E., and Tammell G.T. (1968). Phys. Rev. 168:737
Heald M.A. (1984). Am. J. Phys. 52:522
U. Bartocci and M. Mamone Capria, Am. J. Phys. 59, 1030 (1991); Found. Phys. 21, 787 (1991).
Assis A.K.T., Rodrigues W.A. Jr, and Mania A.J. (1999). Found. Phys. 29:729
Jefimenko O.D. (1962). Am. J. Phys. 30:19
Sansbury R. (1985). Rev. Sci. Instrum. 56:415
Edwards W.F., Kenyon C.S., and Lemon D.K. (1976). Phys. Rev. D 14:922
Maglic S. and Bartlett D.F. (1990) Rev. Sci. Instrum. 61:2637
Lemon D.K., Edwards W.F., and Kenyon C.S. (1992). Phys. Lett. A 162:105
A. Enders and G. Nimtz, J. Phys. I (France) 2, 1693 (1992); 3, 1089 (1993); Phys. Rev. E 48, 632 (1993).
Cardone F. and Mignani R. (1998). Ann. Fond. L de. Broglie 23:173
Cardone F. and Mignani R. (2003). Phys. Lett. A 306:265
Ranfagni A., Fabeni P., Pazzi G.P., and Mugnai D. (1993). Phys. Rev. E 48:1453
See M. C. Combourieu and J. P. Vigier, Phys. Lett. A 175 (1993), and references therein. For a recent reexamination of the classical Michelson-Morley data, apparently providing evidence for a privileged frame, see M. Consoli and E. Costanzo, Phys. Lett. A, 355 (2004); Nuovo Cim. 119 B, 393 (2004).
For a theoretical discussion, see, e.g., K.S. Thorne, in: 300 Years of Gravitation, S.W. Hawking and W. Israel, eds. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987). Recent experimental upper limits are given in P. Astone et al., Phys. Lett. B 385, 421 (1996).
F. Cardone and R. Mignani, JETP 83, 435 (1996); Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 110, 793 (1996).
F. Cardone, R. Mignani, W. Perconti and R. Scrimaglio, A new test of local Lorentz invariance in a photon system, Proceedings of International Conference on Anomalies and Strange Behavior in Physics: Challenging the Conventional (Napoli, Italy, April 10–12, 2003), D. Mugnai, A. Ranfagni, and L. S. Schulman eds., Atti Fondazione G. LVIII, n.6, 870 (2003); F. Cardone, R. Mignani, W. Perconti, and R.~Scrimaglio, Phys. Lett. A 326, 1 (2004).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cardone, F., Mignani, R. & Scrimaglio, R. New Experimental Results on the Lower Limits of Local Lorentz Invariance. Found Phys 36, 263–290 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-005-9014-z
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-005-9014-z