Lorentz Invariance and Quantum Gravity: An Additional Fine-Tuning Problem?
Open accessAbstract
Trying to combine standard quantum field theories with gravity leads to a breakdown of the usual structure of space time at around the Planck length, 1.6x10(-35) m, with possible violations of Lorentz invariance. Calculations of preferred-frame effects in quantum gravity have further motivated high precision searches for Lorentz violation. Here, we explain that combining known elementary particle interactions with a Planck-scale preferred frame gives rise to Lorentz violation at the percent level, some 20 orders of magnitude higher than earlier estimates, unless the bare parameters of the theory are unnaturally strongly fine tuned. Therefore an important task is not just the improvement of the precision of searches for violations of Lorentz invariance, but also the search for theoretical mechanisms for automatically preserving Lorentz invariance.
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Effective field theory strongly limits the possibility that LIV stays small once interactions in QFT are included.
“However, it was soon realized [115] that the framework of effective field theories severely restricts the possibility that LIV remains small when interactions in QFT are taken into account.”
From The Spin-Foam Approach to Quantum Gravity (2013) · cites this paper as [115]
Unless a fundamental protecting mechanism exists, dimension-five or higher LIV terms will generically generate dimension-four and lower LIV terms.
“In fact, dimension five or higher LIV terms will generically (in the absence of some fundamental protecting mechanism) generate dimension four and lower LIV terms (with factors in front that are at best quadratic in standard model coupling constants).”
From The Spin-Foam Approach to Quantum Gravity (2013) · cites this paper as [115]
The absence of lower dimension operators implies that either there is a fine tuning in the Lorentz violating sector, some other symmetry is present that protects the lower dimension operators, or Lorentz invariance is an exact symmetry.
“The absence of lower dimension operators implies that either there is a fine tuning in the Lorentz violating sector [91], some other symmetry is present that protects the lower dimension operators, or Lorentz invariance is an exact symmetry.”
From Modern Tests of Lorentz Invariance (2005) · cites this paper as [91]
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- Authors
- Collins, J., Perez, A., Sudarsky, D., Urrutia, L., & Vucetich, H.
- Affiliations
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX)
- Universidad Nacional de La Plata (AR)
- Venue
- Physical Review Letters
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Published
- 2004-11-05
- Volume
- 93
- Issue
- 19
- Pages
- 191301-191301
- ISSN
- 0031-9007 (ISSN-L)
- 1079-7114
- OpenAlex
- W2009830847
- Cited by
- 312
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 11.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- arxiv.org
- Locations
- Physical Review Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Relativity and Gravitational Theory
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
- Keywords
- Lorentz violation, quantum gravity, Planck length, preferred frame, fine-tuning problem, quantum field theory of gravity, Planck-scale physics
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