Testing Lorentz violation with binary pulsars: constraints on standard model extension

TL;DR

This paper tests Lorentz invariance using five binary pulsars within the SME framework, finding no evidence of violation at a sensitivity level of 10^{-10}, which improves previous constraints.

Contribution

It provides new constraints on SME parameters using pulsar timing data, enhancing the sensitivity of Lorentz violation tests in strong gravity regimes.

Findings

No Lorentz violation detected at 10^{-10} level.

Constraints are an order of magnitude tighter than previous estimates.

Binary pulsar timing effectively probes fundamental physics.

Abstract

Under the standard model extension (SME) framework, Lorentz invariance is tested in five binary pulsars: PSR J0737-3039, PSR B1534+12, PSR J1756-2251, PSR B1913+16 and PSR B2127+11C. By analyzing the advance of periastron, we obtain the constraints on a dimensionless combination of SME parameters that is sensitive to timing observations. The results imply no evidence for the break of Lorentz invariance at $10^{-10}$ level, one order of magnitude larger than previous estimation.