Compton Edge probing basic physics at Jefferson Laboratory: light speed isotropy and Lorentz invariance

TL;DR

This paper proposes an experiment at Jefferson Laboratory to test the isotropy of light speed and Lorentz invariance with higher precision than previous experiments, using Compton Edge measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a new experimental setup at Jefferson Laboratory to improve tests of light speed isotropy and Lorentz invariance beyond previous limits.

Findings

Enhanced accuracy in light speed isotropy testing by an order of magnitude.

Significantly improved limits on the dependence of light speed on apparatus velocity.

Successful adaptation of a proven experimental method to Jefferson Laboratory.

Abstract

We propose to study of the light speed isotropy and Lorentz invariance at Jefferson Laboratory by means of the measurements of the Compton Edge using of the Hall A/C existing experimental setup. Methodologically the same experiment has already been successfully elaborated at GRAAL experiment at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble with 6 GeV electron beam. This Proposal states two goals expected to be reached at Jefferson Laboratory, both on Lorentz invariance: (a) the one-way light speed isotropy testing accuracy, following from conservative evaluations at numerical simulations, to about an order of magnitude better than was GRAAL's; (b) the dependence of the light speed on the velocity of the apparatus (Kennedy-Thorndike measurement) will be traced to an accuracy about 3 orders of magnitudes better than the available limits.