First Experimental Survey of a Whole Class of Non-Commutative Quantum Gravity Models in the VIP-2 Lead Underground Experiment

Abstract

This study is aimed to set severe constraints on a whole class of non-commutative space-times scenarios as a class of universality for several quantum gravity models. To this end, slight violations of the Pauli exclusion principle—predicted by these models—are investigated by searching for Pauli forbidden Kα and Kβ transitions in lead. The selection of a high atomic number target material allows to test the energy scale of the space-time non-commutativity emergence at high atomic transition energies. As a consequence, the measurement is very sensitive to high orders in the power series expansion of the Pauli violation probability, which allows to set the first constraint to the “triply special relativity” model proposed by Kowalski-Glikman and Smolin. The characteristic energy scale of the model is bound to Λ>5.6·10−9 Planck scales.

Keywords

• non-commutative quantum gravity
• Pauli principle violation
• X-ray spectroscopy
• underground experiment