Possible altitudinal, latitudinal and directional dependence of relativistic Sagnac effect in Chern-Simons modified gravity

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Chern-Simons modified gravity could cause altitude, latitude, and directional variations in the relativistic Sagnac effect, proposing potential experimental tests using space and ground-based interferometers.

Contribution

It analyzes the dependence of the relativistic Sagnac effect on altitude and direction within Chern-Simons gravity, highlighting experimental setups to detect these effects.

Findings

Eastbound Sagnac interferometers may effectively test CS effects due to LT cancellation.

CS effects on phase shift can oscillate with altitude depending on the CS mass parameter.

Space station and ground experiments could observe altitude-dependent phase shifts.

Abstract

Toward a test of parity violation in a gravity theory, possible effects of Chern-Simons (CS) gravity on an interferometer have been recently discussed. Continuing work initiated in an earlier publication [Okawara, Yamada and Asada, Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 231101 (2012)], we study possible altitudinal and directional dependence of relativistic Sagnac effect in CS modified gravity. We compare the CS effects on Sagnac interferometers with the general relativistic Lense-Thirring (LT) effects. Numerical calculations show that the eastbound Sagnac interferometer might be preferred for testing CS separately, because LT effects on this interferometer cancel out. The size of the phase shift induced in the CS model might have an oscillatory dependence also on the altitude of the interferometer through the CS mass parameter $m_{CS}$. Therefore, the international space station site as well as a ground-based experiment is also discussed.