Background information on BREAKING SPACETIME SYMMETRIES

Our basic premise is that minuscule apparent violations of spacetime symmetries might be observable in nature. The idea is that the violations would arise as suppressed effects from a more fundamental theory.

The best existing description of nature at its fundamental level is a combination of Einstein's theory of gravity, General Relativity, with the Standard Model of particle physics. This description assumes exact spacetime symmetries, including the global Lorentz and CPT invariance of the Standard Model, and the local Lorentz and diffeomorphism invariance of General Relativity.

Our publications construct a general framework (the Standard-Model Extension or SME) for describing arbitrary violations of all these spacetime symmetries. We also study the potential origin of the violations in underlying unified theories and the implications for experiments.

Related links:

• FAQ on Lorentz and CPT violation
• Animations
• Media coverage
• The Data Tables for Lorentz and CPT Violation compiles results of experiments searching for the breaking of spacetime symmetries
  Posters summarizing the 2019 edition of the Data Tables: first poster, second poster
• Books and articles on spacetime symmetry violations
• INSPIRE partial listings for Lorentz and CPT violation and for superluminal neutrinos
• Upcoming and past meetings
• The Indiana University Center for Spacetime Symmetries (IUCSS)
• Beyond Einstein: the Search for Relativity Violations
  (lay description of our research program as of 2005, streaming video, 7 min)
  

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