Lorentz Symmetry Violation and Superluminal Particles at Future Colliders

Non-tachyonic superluminal sectors of matter (superbradyons), with critical speeds in vacuum much larger than the speed of light, can quite naturally exist and play an important role in both cosmic-ray physics (anomalous high-energy events) and cosmology (big-bang physics, alternatives to inflation, dark matter...). They can even be the real "elementary" particles. An updated discussion of the subject is presented, in relation with recent theoretical and experimental results....

Present low-energy bounds on Lorentz symmetry violation do not allow to exclude the possible existence of superluminal particles (superbradyons) with critical speed in vacuum $c_i \gg c$ (c = speed of light) whose kinematical properties would be close to of "ordinary" particles (bradyons) apart from the difference in critical speed. If they exist, superbradyons may be the basic building blocks of vacuum and and matter at Planck scale, provide most of the matter in the Univers...

The apparent Lorentz invariance of the laws of physics does not imply that space-time is indeed minkowskian. Matter made of solutions of Lorentz-invariant equations would feel a relativistic space-time even if the actual space-time had a quite different geometry (i.e. a galilean space-time). A typical example is provided by sine-Gordon solitons in a galilean world. A "sub-world" restricted to such solitons would be "relativistic", with the critical speed of solitons playing t...

Although Lorentz symmetry has been tested at low energy with extremely good accuracy, its validity at very high energy is much less well established. If Lorentz symmetry violation (LSV) is energy-dependent (e.g. $\propto E^2$), it can be of order 1 at Planck scale and undetectable at GeV scale or below. Similarly, superluminal particles with positive mass and energy (superbradyons) can exist and be the ultimate building blocks of matter. We discuss a few cosmological conseque...

Special relativity has been tested at low energy with great accuracy, but its extrapolation to very high-energy phenomena is much less well established. Introducing a critical distance scale, a , below 10E-25 cm (the wavelength scale of the highest-energy observed cosmic rays) allows to consider models, compatible with standard tests of special relativity, where a small violation of Lorentz symmetry (a can, for instance, be the Planck length) produces dramatic effects on the ...

Taking into account the experimental results of the HiRes and AUGER collaborations, the present status of bounds on Lorentz symmetry violation (LSV) patterns is discussed. Although significant constraints will emerge, a wide range of models and values of parameters will still be left open. Cosmological implications of allowed LSV patterns are discussed focusing on the origin of our Universe, the cosmological constant, dark matter and dark energy. Superbradyons (superluminal p...

We discuss the possible cosmological implications of a class of superluminal particles, in a scenario where: a) Lorentz invariance is only an approximate property of the equations of a sector of matter; b) several critical speeds of matter in vacuum exist. The Big Bang scenario and the evolution of the very early universe, as well as large scale structure, can be strongly influenced by the new particles.

Astrophysical, terrestrial, and space-based searches for Lorentz violation are very briefly reviewed. Such searches are motivated by the fact that all superunified theories (and other theories that attempt to include quantum gravity) have some potential for observable violations of Lorentz invariance. Another motivation is the exquisite sensitivity of certain well-designed experiments and observations to particular forms of Lorentz violation. We also review some new predictio...

Assuming the existence of a local vacuum rest frame (LVRF), and using suitable algebraic tranformations, the internal structure of ultra-high energy particles (UHEPs) is studied in the presence of Lorentz symmetry violation (LSV) at the Planck scale. Violations of the standard Lorentz contraction and time dilation formulae are made explicit. Dynamics in the rest frame of a UHEP is worked out and discussed. Phenomenological implications for ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECR...

We briefly discuss the implications of recent AUGER results for patterns of Lorentz symmetry violation (LSV), assuming that the existence of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin cutoff is definitely confirmed. The mass composition of the highest-energy cosmic-ray spectrum is a crucial issue. In any case, the new data allow in principle to exclude a significant range of LSV models but leave open several important possibilities : a weaker Lorentz breaking, a fundamental scale beyond the...