Göttingen 2012 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 22: Quantenfeldtheorie

T 22.9: Talk

Wednesday, February 29, 2012, 18:45–19:00, VG 3.101

Lorentz violation in the photon sector: parity-odd modified Maxwell theory — •Marco Schreck — Institut für Theoretische Physik, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Karlsruhe

In light of the detection of superluminal muon neutrinos by the OPERA collaboration, Lorentz-violating quantum field theories have enjoyed a great revival. Besides the enthusiasm concerning Lorentz symmetry breaking in the neutrino sector, Lorentz violation in the photon sector also is of special interest. Modified Maxwell theory coupled to standard Dirac theory of spin-1/2 fermions is one of two possible Lorentz-violating deformations of quantum electrodynamics affecting photons.

In this talk the parity-odd nonbirefringent case of modified Maxwell theory will be considered. The theory mentioned is the only parity-odd renormalizable extension of the standard model that violates Lorentz invariance in the photon sector and is not tightly bounded by experiment. Hence, it is of certain importance and therefore will be discussed concerning its peculiarities --- e.g. with regard to the modified photon polarization vectors. Recently obtained interesting results about its consistency will be presented.