Progress on testing Lorentz symmetry with MICROSCOPE

TL;DR

The MICROSCOPE mission tests the fundamental principles of Lorentz invariance and the Weak Equivalence Principle with unprecedented precision, analyzing data within the Standard Model Extension framework to detect possible deviations.

Contribution

This work develops a Lorentz violating observable tailored for MICROSCOPE within the SME framework, enabling the first direct test of LLI at the mission's precision.

Findings

Preliminary analysis sets new bounds on Lorentz violation parameters.

The methodology enhances the sensitivity of LLI tests using space-based experiments.

Results contribute to understanding fundamental symmetries at Planck scale.

Abstract

The Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) and the local Lorentz invariance (LLI) are two major assumptions of General Relativity (GR). The MICROSCOPE mission, currently operating, will perform a test of the WEP with a precision of $10^{-15}$. The data will also be analysed at SYRTE for the purposes of a LLI test realised in collaboration with J. Tasson (Carleton College, Minnesota) and Q. Bailey (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Arizona). This study will be performed in a general framework, called the Standard Model Extension (SME), describing Lorentz violations that could appear at Planck scale ($10^{19}$ GeV). The SME allows us to derive a Lorentz violating observable designed for the MICROSCOPE experiment and to search for possible deviations from LLI in the differential acceleration of the test masses.