Mainz 2012 – scientific programme

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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne

HK 25: Fundamentale Symmetrien

HK 25.1: Group Report

Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 14:00–14:30, P 1

Lorentz invariance on trial in the weak decay of polarized atoms — •Stefan E. Mueller, Elwin Dijck, Jacob Noordmans, Gerco Onderwater, Rob Timmermans, Hans Wilschut, and Katsunori Yai — Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

One of the most fundamental principles on which our current understanding of nature is based is the invariance of physical laws under Lorentz transformations. Theories trying to unify the Standard Model with Quantum Gravity may break this invariance, 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 KVI, we will test Lorentz invariance searching for a dependence of the decay rate of spin-polarized nuclei on the daily, yearly or deliberate re-orientation of the spin. Observation of such a dependence would hint at a breakdown of Lorentz invariance.

We will present results from the first experiments using ⁸⁰Rb and ²⁰Na atoms produced with the AGOR cyclotron at the KVI.