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arXiv · 2408.15949

Probing Lorentz invariance with a high-energy neutrino flare

Mauricio Bustamante·John Ellis·Rostislav Konoplich·Alexander S. Sakharov
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Abstract

Time-of-flight measurements of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos can be used to probe Lorentz invariance, a pillar of modern physics. If Lorentz-invariance violation (LIV) occurs, it could cause neutrinos to slow down, with the delay scaling linearly or quadratically with their energy. We introduce non-parametric statistical methods designed to detect LIV-induced distortions in the temporal structure of a high-energy neutrino flare as it travels to Earth from a distant astrophysical source, independently of the intrinsic timing properties of the source. Our approach, illustrated using the 2014/2015 TeV-PeV neutrino flare from the blazar TXS 0506+056 detected by IceCube, finds that the LIV energy scale must exceed 10^{14} GeV (linear) or 10^9 GeV (quadratic). Our methods provide a robust means to investigate LIV by focusing solely on a neutrino flare, without relying on electromagnetic counterparts, and account for realistic energy and directional uncertainties. For completeness, we compare our limits inferred from TXS 0506+056 to the sensitivity inferred from multi-messenger detection of tentative coincidences between neutrinos and electromagnetic emission from active galactic nuclei and tidal disruption events.

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Mauricio Bustamante, John Ellis, Rostislav Konoplich, Alexander S. Sakharov. 2024-08-28. Probing Lorentz invariance with a high-energy neutrino flare. https://doi.org/10.1103/yyv3-mtmy

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