Testing kappa-Poincare' with neutral kaons

Abstract

In recent work on experimental tests of quantum-gravity-motivated phenomenological models, a significant role has been played by the so-called ``$κ$'' deformations of Poincaré symmetries. Sensitivity to values of the relevant deformation length $λ$ as small as $5 \cdot 10^{-33}m$ has been achieved in recent analyses comparing the structure of $κ$-Poincaré symmetries with data on the gamma rays we detect from distant astrophysical sources. We investigate violations of CPT symmetry which may be associated with $κ$-Poincaré in the physics of the neutral-kaon system. A simple estimate indicates that experiments on the neutral kaons may actually be more $λ$-sensitive than corresponding astrophysical experiments, and may already allow to probe values of $λ$ of order the Planck length.