Acoustic Tests of Lorentz Symmetry Using Quartz Oscillators

• Published in: Physical review. X Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 011018
• Main Authors: Lo, Anthony, Haslinger, Philipp, Mizrachi, Eli, Anderegg, Loïc, Müller, Holger, Hohensee, Michael, Goryachev, Maxim, Tobar, Michael E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: College Park American Physical Society 24.02.2016
• Subjects: Acoustic resonance; Acoustic tests; Acoustics; ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS; Atomic properties; CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; Crystals; Elastic anisotropy; Elastic properties; Frequency measurement; Invariance; Isotropy; Laboratories; Neutrons; Oscillators; Photons; Protons; Quantum mechanics; Quartz; Quartz crystals; Relativity; Room temperature; Standard model (particle physics); Symmetry
• ISSN: 2160-3308; 2160-3308
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevX.6.011018

We propose and demonstrate a test of Lorentz symmetry based on new, compact, and reliable quartz oscillator technology. Violations of Lorentz invariance in the matter and photon sector of the standard model extension generate anisotropies in particles’ inertial masses and the elastic constants of solids, giving rise to measurable anisotropies in the resonance frequencies of acoustic modes in solids. A first realization of such a “phonon-sector” test of Lorentz symmetry using room-temperature stress-compensated-cut crystals yields 120 h of data at a frequency resolution of 2.4×10−15 and a limit of c˜Qn=(−1.8±2.2)×10−14GeV on the most weakly constrained neutron-sector c coefficient of the standard model extension. Future experiments with cryogenic oscillators promise significant improvements in accuracy, opening up the potential for improved limits on Lorentz violation in the neutron, proton, electron, and photon sector.