Limits to Quantum Gravity Effects on Energy Dependence of the Speed of Light from Observations of TeV Flares in Active Galaxies
Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: We have used data from a TeV $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray flare associated with the active galaxy Markarian 421 to place bounds on the possible energy dependence of the speed of light in the context of an effective quantum gravitational energy scale. Recent theoretical work suggests that such an energy scale could be less than the Planck mass and perhaps as low as ${10}^{16}$ GeV. The limits derived here indicate this energy scale to be in excess of $6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{16}$ GeV for at least one approach to quantum gravity in the context of D-brane string theory. To the best of our knowledge, this constitutes the first convincing limit on such phenomena in this energy regime.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Authors: S. D. Biller, A. C. Breslin, J. Buckley, M. Catanese, M. Carson, D. A. Carter-Lewis, M. F. Cawley, D. J. Fegan, J. P. Finley, J. A. Gaidos, A. M. Hillas, F. Krennrich, R. C. Lamb, R. Lessard, C. Masterson, J. E. McEnery, B. McKernan, P. Moriarty, J. Quinn, H. J. Rose, F. Samuelson, G. Sembroski, P. Skelton, T. C. Weekes
Institutions: University of Oxford, University College Dublin, Washington University in St. Louis, Iowa State University, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Purdue University West Lafayette, University of Leeds, California Institute of Technology, University of Utah, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Smithsonian Institution
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2097552733