Spectra for the Vacuum Cherenkov Effect in Astrophysical Electromagnetic Cascades with Lorentz Invariance Violation

TL;DR

This paper derives the spectra for vacuum Cherenkov radiation caused by Lorentz invariance violation, providing a tool to test quantum gravity models through astrophysical observations.

Contribution

It presents the first derivation and numerical confirmation of vacuum Cherenkov spectra in the context of Lorentz invariance violation, advancing phenomenological analysis.

Findings

Derived spectra for vacuum Cherenkov radiation.

Numerical confirmation of the spectra.

Provides a basis for constraining Lorentz invariance violation.

Abstract

Lorentz invariance violation is a feature of several quantum gravity models in which Lorentz symmetry is broken at high energies, possibly leading to changes in particle behavior and interactions. In this work, we investigate vacuum Cherenkov radiation, a reaction in which an electron spontaneously emits a photon. This process, forbidden when Lorentz symmetry is unbroken, is a phenomenological consequence of some quantum gravity models. We derive, for the first time, the spectra for the vacuum Cherenkov reaction, and confirm our results numerically. These results can be used to derive limits on Lorentz invariance violation.