Testing Gravity on Accelerators

TL;DR

This paper investigates potential deviations from the weak equivalence principle for relativistic matter and antimatter using accelerator data, setting a 0.1% limit on differences in gravitational and inertial masses.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to testing WEP for relativistic particles by analyzing accelerator phenomena and constrains possible violations with high precision.

Findings

0.1% limit on the difference between gravitational and inertial masses of relativistic electrons/positrons.

Constraints on isotropic Lorentz violation from accelerator data.

No observed deviations from WEP within experimental limits.

Abstract

Weak equivalence principle (WEP) is one of the cornerstones of the modern theories of gravity, stating that the trajectory of a freely falling test body is independent of its internal structure and composition. Even though WEP is known to be valid for the normal matter with a high precision, it has never been experimentally confirmed for relativistic matter and antimatter. We make an attempt to constrain possible deviations from WEP utilizing the modern accelerator technologies. We analyze the (absence of) vacuum Cherenkov radiation, photon decay, anomalous synchrotron losses and the Compton spectra to put limits on the isotropic Lorentz violation and further convert them to the constraints on the difference between the gravitational and inertial masses of the relativistic electrons/positrons. Our main result is the 0.1% limit on the mentioned difference.