2005/01/20 by Gia Dvali, Michele Papucci, Matthew D. Schwartz · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.94.191602
published as Phys.Rev.Lett. 94 (2005) 191602 · 4 pages
arxiv created 2005/01/20 · openalex publication_date 2005/05/19 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study a modification of electromagnetism which violates Lorentz invariance at large distances. In this theory, electromagnetic waves are massive, but the static force between charged particles is Coulomb, not Yukawa. At very short distances the theory looks just like QED. But for distances larger than 1/m the massive dispersion relation of the waves can be appreciated, and the Coulomb force can be used to communicate faster than the speed of light. In fact, electrical signals are transmitted instantly, but take a time approximately 1/m to build up to full strength. After that, undamped oscillations of the electric field are set in and continue until they are dispersed by the arrival of the Lorentz-obeying part of the transmission. Experimental constraints imply that the Compton wavelength of the photon may be as small as 6000 km. This bound is weaker than for a Lorentz-invariant mass, essentially because the Coulomb constraint is removed.