Lorentz invariance violation and charge (non)conservation: A general theoretical frame for extensions of the Maxwell equations

All quantum gravity approaches lead to small modifications in the standard laws of physics which in most cases lead to violations of Lorentz invariance. One particular example is the extended standard model (SME). Here, a general phenomenological approach for extensions of the Maxwell equations is presented which turns out to be more general than the SME and which covers charge nonconservation (CNC), too. The new Lorentz invariance violating terms cannot be probed by optical experiments but need, instead, the exploration of the electromagnetic field created by a point charge or a magnetic dipole. Some scalar tensor theories and higher dimensional brane theories predict CNC in four dimensions and some models violating special relativity have been shown to be connected with CNC. Its relation to the Einstein Equivalence Principle has been discussed. Because of this upcoming interest, the experimental status of electric charge conservation is reviewed. Up to now there seem to exist no unique tests of charge conservation. CNC is related to the precession of polarization, to a modification of the $1/r$-Coulomb potential, and to a time dependence of the fine structure constant. This gives the opportunity to describe a dedicated search for CNC.

Figure 1

Forces between increasing charges can be probed with a spring.

Figure 2

Atomic energy levels (here the Balmer series, for example) are sensitive to increasing charges.

Figure 3

The magnetic field of a point charge located at the origin. The vector field $\mathit{\zeta }$ is assumed to point in the $z$ direction.