Testing Local Lorentz Invariance with Laser Tracking of the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II Satellites

TL;DR

This paper uses 30 years of satellite laser ranging data from LAGEOS satellites to test for violations of local Lorentz invariance, setting the most stringent constraints to date on preferred-frame effects in Earth's gravity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel analysis method applying phase sensitive detection to satellite data to improve constraints on Lorentz invariance violations.

Findings

Established a new upper limit on |α₁| of approximately 2×10⁻⁵.

Improved previous constraints from Lunar Laser Ranging.

Provided the most stringent test of preferred-frame effects in Earth's gravity.

Abstract

Violations of Lorentz Invariance, a cornerstone of modern physics, are predicted by theories of quantum gravity and by extensions of General Relativity involving new vector or tensor fields. In the weak-field limit, such a violation would primarily manifest as a non-zero value for the post-Newtonian parameter $\alpha_1$, which is identically zero in General Relativity. We present a new test of Local Lorentz Invariance by searching for this signature in the orbits of the LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites. By applying a Phase Sensitive Detection technique to the mean argument of latitude, derived from about 30 years of Satellite Laser Ranging data, we isolate the periodic signal potentially induced by a preferred reference frame aligned with the Cosmic Microwave Background. {Our analysis yields a new constraint $|\alpha_1| \sim 2 \times 10^{-5}$. This result improves upon the previous best limit from Lunar Laser Ranging and provides the most stringent constraint to date on preferred-frame effects in Earth's gravity.}