White dwarfs as test objects of Lorentz violations

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Lorentz symmetry violations, modeled through modified dispersion relations, affect the thermodynamics of gases and the properties of white dwarfs, proposing white dwarfs as astrophysical tests for such fundamental physics deviations.

Contribution

It introduces a framework linking Lorentz violations to white dwarf properties and demonstrates how observational data can constrain these violations.

Findings

Modified dispersion relations alter white dwarf mass-radius relation.

Certain Lorentz violation parameters are inconsistent with current white dwarf observations.

Thermodynamical properties like specific heat and entropy are affected by Lorentz symmetry breaking.

Abstract

In the present work the thermodynamical properties of bosonic and fermionic gases are analyzed under the condition that a modified dispersion relation is present. This last condition implies a breakdown of Lorentz symmetry. The implications upon the condensation temperature will be studied, as well, as upon other thermodynamical variables such as specific heat, entropy, etc. Moreover, it will be argued that those cases entailing a violation of time reversal symmetry of the motion equations could lead to problems with the concept of entropy. Concerning the fermionic case it will be shown that Fermi temperature suffers a modification due to the breakdown of Lorentz symmetry. The results will be applied to white dwarfs and the consequences upon the Chandrasekhar mass--radius relation will be shown. The possibility of resorting to white dwarfs for the testing of modified dispersion relations is also addressed. It will be shown that the comparison of the current observations against the predictions of our model allows us to discard some values of one of the parameters appearing in the modifications of the dispersion relation.