Infrared lorentz violation and slowly instantaneous electricity

Gia Dvali, Michele Papucci, Matthew D. Schwartz

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    We study a modification of electromagnetism which violates Lorentz invariance at large distances. In this theory, electromagnetic waves are massive, but the static force between charged particles is Coulomb, not Yukawa. At very short distances the theory looks just like QED. But for distances larger than 1/m the massive dispersion relation of the waves can be appreciated, and the Coulomb force can be used to communicate faster than the speed of light. In fact, electrical signals are transmitted instantly, but take a time ∼1/m to build up to full strength. After that, undamped oscillations of the electric field are set in and continue until they are dispersed by the arrival of the Lorentz-obeying part of the transmission. Experimental constraints imply that the Compton wavelength of the photon may be as small as 6000km. This bound is weaker than for a Lorentz-invariant mass, essentially because the Coulomb constraint is removed.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Article number191602
    JournalPhysical Review Letters
    Volume94
    Issue number19
    DOIs
    StatePublished - May 20 2005

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Physics and Astronomy

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