Benjamin Zitzer, for the VERITAS Collaboration
Quantum gravity (QG) theories over the past fifty years have sought to understand the relationship between the four fundamental interactions. A major insight gained in this area is that all interactions could possibly unify at Planck-scale energies ~10$^{19}$ GeV. A potential consequence of the unification of gravity with the other three interactions would be a breaking of Lorentz symmetry at Planck-scale energies. The interpretation of Time-of-flight (TOF) measurements from gamma-ray telescopes have been able to put constraints on the energy scales of the Lorentz-invariance violations (LIV). The Crab pulsar, the only pulsar detected at very high energies (VHE, E > 100 GeV) presents a unique opportunity to put new constraints on LIV. Presented here are the results of observations of the Crab pulsar with VERITAS and statistical methods to determine limits of LIV effects from energy-dependent timing differences.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1307.8382
No comments:
Post a Comment