Münster 2011 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 44: Fundamentale Symmetrien

HK 44.8: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 23. März 2011, 19:00–19:15, HS2

Lorentz invariance on trial in weak decays of rubidium — Elwin Dijck, •Stefan E. Müller, Jacob Noordmans, Gerco Onderwater, Rob Timmermans, and Hans Wilschut — Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

The invariance of the laws of physics under Lorentz transformations is one of the most fundamental principles underlying our current understanding of nature. In theories trying to unify the Standard Model with quantum gravity, this invariance may be broken, and dedicated high-precision experiments at low energy could be used to reveal such suppressed signals from the Planck scale.

In the framework of the TRIµP (Trapped Radioactive Isotopes: micro-laboratories for fundamental Physics) program at the KVI, we will test Lorentz invariance by searching for a dependence of the decay rate of spin-polarized ⁸⁰Rb nuclei on the daily, sidereal or deliberate re-orientation of the spin. Observation of such a dependence would imply a breakdown of Lorentz invariance.

The method of the measurement will be presented, together with first results from preparatory experiments using the AGOR cyclotron at the KVI.