Inspecting absorption in the spectra of extra-galactic gamma-ray sources for insight into Lorentz invariance violation

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Lorentz invariance violation could alter the absorption features in the spectra of extragalactic gamma-ray sources, offering a potential method to detect such fundamental physics deviations.

Contribution

It demonstrates that LIV would significantly modify gamma-ray absorption features, proposing a practical observational approach to test Lorentz invariance.

Findings

LIV causes notable changes in gamma-ray absorption spectra.

Spectral modifications could serve as indicators of LIV.

The approach is feasible with upcoming observational capabilities.

Abstract

We examine what the absorbed spectra of extra-galactic TeV gamma-ray sources, such as blazars, would look like in the presence of Lorentz invariance violation (LIV). Pair-production with the extra-galactic background light modifies the observed spectra of such sources, and we show that a violation of Lorentz invariance would generically have a dramatic effect on this absorption feature. Inspecting this effect, an experimental task likely practical in the near future, can provide unique insight on the possibility of LIV.