REVIEW
Lorentz invariance with an invariant energy scale
High Energy Physics - Theory · Submitted 11 Dec 2001 · 12 references
Pith's verdict: A clean, honest construction that genuinely makes the Planck energy an invariant — the weak point is the physics of composite systems, which the paper asserts rather than derives.
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Referee report
The paper
The paper claims
The paper proposes that the Planck energy can be an invariant of motion, sitting alongside the speed of light, without giving up the relativity of inertial frames.
The reading
What carries the argument
The load-bearing device is the energy-dependent transformation $U(p_0) = exp(l_P p_0 D)$, which conjugates the ordinary Lorentz generators into modified ones, $K^i = U^{-1}(p_0) L^{i0} U(p_0)$. Because $U$ acts as a rescaling on momentum components, $U(p_0) circ p^a = p^a/(1 - l_P p_0)$, and the group action $W[omega_{ab}] = U^{-1} e^{omega_{ab} L^{ab}} U$ inherits the ordinary algebra while acquiring a non-linear action on the momentum vector. The singularity of $U$ at $p_0 = 1/l_P$ is precisely the new invariant scale: the transformation blows up there, which is how the Planck energy is pinned. The same conjugation pattern is then applied to derivatives of fields in curved spacetime, $partial_a phi = e^mu_a partial_mu phi$, to state a modified equivalence principle in which the non-linear realization acts on orthonormal-frame field derivatives rather than on the frame components themselves.
Extended reading notes
Core claim
The paper constructs a six-parameter symmetry group with exactly the ordinary Lorentz algebra, but acting non-linearly on momentum space. Each boost generator is modified by adding a dilatation term, $K^i = L^{i0} + l_P p^i D$, where $l_P$ is the Planck length and $D = p^a partial_{p^a}$; the commutators $[J^i, K^j] = epsilon^{ijk} K^k$ and $[K^i, K^j] = epsilon^{ijk} J^k$ are unchanged, so this is a non-linear realization rather than a deformation of the algebra. Exponentiating gives modified boost equations (the paper's equations 7 to 10) that reduce to the usual ones for small momenta and that map a particle of energy $E_P$ to itself. The quadratic invariant is replaced by $|p|^2 = eta_{ab} p^a p^b / (1 - l_P p_0)^2$, which diverges at $E = 1/l_P$, so the Planck energy becomes an invariant and the notion of a quadratic metric collapses near it. The resulting kinematics gives $E = m/(1 + m/E_P)$ and $p = m v/(1 + m/E_P)$, so no particle's energy can reach $E_P$; the photon Doppler shift becomes $1/E' - 1/E_P = (1/(gamma(1-v)))(1/E - 1/E_P)$, so sub- and super-Planckian photons never mix. The authors note the boost transformation is identical to one Fock wrote down, but applied to momentum space instead of position space, which is what makes the invariant a large energy rather than a large length.
Load-bearing premise
The specific choice of the dilatation factor, $U(p_0) = exp(l_P p_0 D)$, is not derived from any deeper principle: the paper itself says many other choices of $U(p_0)$ give other invariants and other dispersion relations, and nothing in the argument selects this one over the alternatives.
Editorial extensions
If this is right
- No particle can be accelerated to or past the Planck energy; a body's energy approaches $E_P$ asymptotically as its rest mass grows without bound, and at that limit energy and momentum become frame-independent.
- Photons still satisfy $E = |p|$ and travel at $c$ in this particular realization, so the theory does not predict an energy-dependent speed of light, unlike other Planck-scale proposals the paper mentions.
- The Doppler shift is modified to $1/E' - 1/E_P = (1/(gamma(1-v)))(1/E - 1/E_P)$, and via the equivalence principle the gravitational redshift becomes $Delta E/E = Delta phi (1 - l_P E)$, a suppression that grows with photon energy.
- The scalar field action acquires the factor $[1 - l_P^2 (partial_0 phi)]^2$ multiplying the kinetic term, so the field equation is non-linear and the superposition principle fails, though a single plane wave remains a solution for a massless field.
- In general relativity, the modified equivalence principle is stated as a rule for how the non-linear Lorentz action applies to orthonormal-frame derivatives of fields, leaving the spin connection and curvature formalism intact.
- The sign of $l_P$ is not fixed by the theory; the two signs give physically distinct predictions, with $E_P > 0$ making particle energies lower than $m c^2$ and $E_P < 0$ making them higher and divergent at the Planck mass.
Reading between the lines
- Because the algebra's structure constants are untouched, the modification is a choice of coordinates on momentum space rather than a new symmetry; one could ask whether the non-linear realization is a field redefinition of ordinary special relativity with no observable content, which is the sharpest version of the question the paper leaves open.
- The paper's own remark that many choices of $U(p_0)$ give different dispersion relations turns the proposal into a family of theories, so the natural next step is to classify which choices preserve $E = |p|$ for photons and which introduce a varying speed of light, and then use that classification to organise gamma-ray-burst and ultra-high-energy-cosmic-ray searches.
- The prediction that super-Planckian photons redshift when the source moves toward the observer, and cannot be redshifted below $E_P$, is an unusual signature that would be visible in the spectra of extreme accelerators if such photons exist at all.
- Because macroscopic bodies made of low-energy particles do not feel the non-linear transformation (it is not additive), the proposal predicts no anomalous behaviour for bulk matter, which suggests the observable window is narrow: single particles near the Planck energy, or cumulative propagation effects over cosmological distances.
Original abstract
We propose a modification of special relativity in which a physical energy, which may be the Planck energy, joins the speed of light as an invariant, in spite of a complete relativity of inertial frames and agreement with Einstein's theory at low energies. This is accomplished by a non-linear modification of the action of the Lorentz group on momentum space, generated by adding a dilatation to each boost in such a way that the Planck energy remains invariant. The associated algebra has unmodified structure constants, and we highlight the similarities between the group action found and a transformation previously proposed by Fock. We also discuss the resulting modifications of field theory and suggest a modification of the equivalence principle which determines how the new theory is embedded in general relativity.
The compiled record
The paper's own sentences, arranged, kept beside the review and separate from it. Each label is drawn from a closed vocabulary; the number beside it is the probability the classifier gave that label. Numbers in the tables are the authors', checked by code. No sentence in this record was written by a model.
The abstract, sentence by sentence
We propose a modification of special relativity in which a physical energy, which may be the Planck energy, joins the speed of light as an invariant, in spite of a complete relativity of inertial frames and agreement with Einstein's theory at low energies. This is accomplished by a non-linear modification of the action of the Lorentz group on momentum space, generated by adding a dilatation to each boost in such a way that the Planck energy remains invariant. The associated algebra has unmodified structure constants, and we highlight the similarities between the group action found and a transformation previously proposed by Fock. We also discuss the resulting modifications of field theory and suggest a modification of the equivalence principle which determines how the new theory is embedded in general relativity.
background contribution method result interpretation main claim
| # | sentence | role | the authors' own work | states the main conclusion | strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s0 | We propose a modification of special relativity in which a physical energy, which may be the Planck energy, joins the speed of light as an invariant, in spite of a complete relativity of inertial frames and agreement with Einstein's theory at low energies. | contribution 1.00 | 0.84 | 0.79 | hedged possibility 0.63 |
| s1 | This is accomplished by a non-linear modification of the action of the Lorentz group on momentum space, generated by adding a dilatation to each boost in such a way that the Planck energy remains invariant. | method 0.93 | 0.89 | 0.18 | asserted 1.00 |
| s2 | The associated algebra has unmodified structure constants, and we highlight the similarities between the group action found and a transformation previously proposed by Fock. | result 0.76 | 0.80 | 0.07 | asserted 0.99 |
| s3 | We also discuss the resulting modifications of field theory and suggest a modification of the equivalence principle which determines how the new theory is embedded in general relativity. | contribution 0.67 | 0.80 | 0.09 | hedged possibility 0.80 |
What was examined, and what was not
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References
How later papers used it
189 later papers cite it
2 later papers by other authors are listed below: 1 built on it and 1 used its method or tool.
Builds on it 1 of 2 papers with this label
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Extended this paper's momentum-space construction to arbitrary representations, including position space, since its quantization map does not depend on the representation considered.
Observables and Dispersion Relations in k-Minkowski Spacetime (2017) · 1.00 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
Uses its method or tool 1 of 5 papers with this label
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Followed this paper's MS formalism in its own work.
Invariant ultraviolet scale corrections to the thermodynamics of degenerate Fermi gas and its implications (2018) · 0.99 · paraphrased: the licence does not allow quoting
How the literature uses it
151 arXiv papers cite this in 219 sentences
Papers citing it · 105 sentences without a confident label
Contests it 1 paper
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Consequently, the refutation of the paradox raised by Amelino-Camelia [ref] and by Magueijo and Smolin [ref] , presented in [ref] , appears ineffective in this context, since the paradox itself is formulated precisely in Minkowski spacetime, where the Poisson bracket is assumed to vanish.
On the non-commutativity of geometric observables in different Lorentz frames · Summary and discussion · contest 0.85
Builds on it 1 paper
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Since the quantization map $D$ does not depend on the representation considered, this allows to extend the construction in [ref] , based on momentum space, to arbitrary representations; in particular to position space.
Observables and Dispersion Relations in k-Minkowski Spacetime · Introduction · 1.00
Uses its method or tool 2 papers
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In this paper, the model we adopt is DSR2, which was proposed and generalized by Magueijo and Smolin [ref] .
Photon Gas Thermodynamics in Doubly Special Relativity · Modified Dispersion Relation For Photon Gas · 0.80
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By using the non-linear Lorentz transformation in the momentum space, the MDR can be compactly written as [ref]
Black hole complementarity with the generalized uncertainty principle in gravity's rainbow · black hole complementarity with GUP in Gravity's Rainbow · 0.80
Compares with it 4 papers
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Thus the DSR model considered in [ref] has a more theoretical motivation and it can be developed starting from the NC phase space variables [ref] whereas the models considered in [ref] are phenomenological in nature and as far as we know, there is no fundamental phase space structures to describe these models.
Effects of a Maximal Energy Scale in Thermodynamics for Photon Gas and Construction of Path Integral · Thermodynamics of photon gas in $κ$-Minkowski spacetime · 0.82
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This implies that massless fields in $κ$-Minkowski spacetime have no modified dispersion relations, in agreement with [ref] and disagreement with [ref] .
Observables and Dispersion Relations in k-Minkowski Spacetime · Introduction · 0.97
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Such a curved momentum space is reminiscent of the structures appearing in doubly special relativity [ref] and in approaches based on the Born reciprocity principle [ref] .
Geometric structure of the relativistic quantum phase space · Geometric equation of the quantum phase space · 0.83
Cites it as support 2 papers
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Also the speed of light $c$ is an invariant quantity in the DSR model [ref] .
Effects of a Maximal Energy Scale in Thermodynamics for Photon Gas and Construction of Path Integral · Thermodynamics of photon gas in $κ$-Minkowski spacetime · 0.97
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Indeed, there exist models which include a minimum length directly in what we would call the effective spacetime without violating Lorentz invariance [ref] .
On the condensed matter scheme for emergent gravity and interferometry · Discreteness of spacetime · 0.97
Cites it as background 90 papers
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In RG, the modified dispersion relation of the test particle takes the form [ref] E^2 f^2(E/E_p) - P^2 g^2(E/E_p) = m^2, where m is the mass and P is the 3-momentum of the test particle.
Maximal acceleration in Rainbow gravity · Rainbow Gravity · 0.80
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For this purpose we return here to the simple perspective and formalization of the first studies [ref] which noticed that some known deformations of relativistic symmetries, some of the ones studied within the “doubly-special relativity" research programme (see, e.g., Refs. [ref] ), could result in the property that coincidences of events established by nearby observers might not appear as coincidences of events in the coordinatization of spacetime by distant observers.
Modeling transverse relative locality · Introduction · 0.80
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The alternative possibility is a “deformation" of relativistic symmetries, in the sense of the “Doubly-Special Relativity" [ref] (DSR) scenario, which insists on a relativistic formulation of laws, as required by the first postulate, and confines all revisions of relativity to revisions of the second postulate.
Testing quantum-spacetime relativity with gamma-ray telescopes · Introduction · 0.91
Discussion
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