2001/02/28 by Jerzy Kowalski-Glikman · 28 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #gr-qc #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/s0375-9601(01)00465-0
published as Phys.Lett. A286 (2001) 391-394 · 8 pages, LaTeX; some speculative comments concerning the structure of space-time removed; one reference added
arxiv created 2001/06/12 · openalex publication_date 2001/08/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2017/05/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
It has been observed recently by Giovanni Amelino-Camelia \citegac1, gac2 that the hypothesis of existence of a minimal observer-independent (Planck) length scale is hard to reconcile with special relativity. As a remedy he postulated to modify special relativity by introducing an observer-independent length scale. In this letter we set forward a proposal how one should modify the principles of special relativity, so as to assure that the values of mass and length scales are the same for any inertial observer. It turns out that one can achieve this by taking dispersion relations such that the speed of light goes to infinity for finite momentum (but infinite energy), proposed e.g., in the framework of the quantum κ-Poincaré symmetry. It follows that at the Planck scale the world may be non-relativistic.