Massive photons from Super and Lorentz symmetry breaking

TL;DR

This paper investigates how breaking supersymmetry and Lorentz symmetry in the Standard Model Extensions leads to massive photon modes with observable effects, including modified dispersion relations and potential measurable delays at low radio frequencies.

Contribution

It introduces a gauge-invariant photon mass term arising from symmetry breaking, linking the mass to background vectors and providing experimental bounds.

Findings

Photon dispersion relations deviate from Maxwellian behavior.

Photon mass estimated at upper limit of 10^{-19} eV.

Potential measurable delays at low radio frequencies.

Abstract

In the context of Standard Model Extensions (SMEs), we analyse four general classes of Super Symmetry (SuSy) and Lorentz Symmetry (LoSy) breaking, leading to {observable} imprints at our energy scales. The photon dispersion relations show a non-Maxwellian behaviour for the CPT (Charge-Parity-Time reversal symmetry) odd and even sectors. The group velocities exhibit also a directional dependence with respect to the breaking background vector (odd CPT) or tensor (even CPT). In the former sector, the group velocity may decay following an inverse squared frequency behaviour. Thus, we extract a massive and gauge invariant Carroll-Field-Jackiw photon term in the Lagrangian and show that the mass is proportional to the breaking vector. The latter is estimated by ground measurements and leads to a photon mass upper limit of $10^{-19}$ eV or $2 \times 10^{-55}$ kg and thereby to a potentially measurable delay at low radio frequencies.