Limits on isotropic Lorentz violation in QED from collider physics

Understand

We consider the possibility that Lorentz violation can generate differences between the limiting velocities of light and charged matter.

• Such effects would lead to efficient vacuum Cherenkov radiation or rapid photon decay.
• The absence of such effects for 104.5 GeV electrons at the Large Electron Positron collider and for 300 GeV photons at the Tevatron therefore constrains this type of Lorentz breakdown.
• Within the context of the standard-model extension, these ideas imply an experimental bound at the level of -5.8 x 10^{-12} <= \tilde{\kappa}_{tr}-(4/3)c_e^{00} <= 1.2 x 10^{-11} tightening existing laboratory measurements by 3-4 orders of magnitude.