Update on Devasia Santosh's Lorentz Violation Research

  • Thread starter bcrowell
  • Start date
In summary, Santosh Devasia, a mechanical engineering professor at UW, managed to get a paper claiming Lorentz violation in high-energy ions published in the reputable journal Eur Phys J in 2010. This caused controversy, as Devasia has connections to a group of "kooks" and his interpretation of previous experiments differed from that of the original researchers. However, a rebuttal was later published in the same journal, clarifying that the transverse Doppler effect is not relevant in this case. Devasia's claims have been refuted and the controversy surrounding his paper has been resolved.
  • #1
bcrowell
Staff Emeritus
Science Advisor
Insights Author
Gold Member
6,724
429
Santosh Devasia managed to get a kook paper past the referees at Eur Phys J: "Lorentz violation in high-energy ions," 2010 http://www.springerlink.com/content/b55166258582206j/fulltext.pdf Eur.Phys.J.C69:343-346,2010. I guess this shows that even a reputable journal can mess up horribly once in a while. Devasia is a professor of mechanical engineering at UW. He has links to the same tribe of kooks as Assis. Devasia has posted in various online forums under user names such as weber2 and weber3:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=453966

http://www.bautforum.com/showthread...contradiction-of-relativity?highlight=devasia

http://www.natscience.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/relativity/16572/Experimental-Evidence-of-Lorentz-Violation

Devasia's paper reinterprets previous experiments of the Ives-Stilwell type as showing Lorentz violation, even though the people who did those experiments interpreted them as confirming Lorentz invariance. A good, detailed anlysis is available here:

http://www.mathpages.com/home/kmath090/kmath090.htm

The reason I'm posting this now is that I came across a rebuttal published in a refereed journal:

A. Sfarti, Eur Phys J C 71 (2011) 1540.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/l5802634606m0245/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #3
Now I understand why the transverse Doppler effect is irrelevant - because the motion of the ions is in the same ( or opposite) directions of the laser beams, therefore only the primary Doppler shift affects the resonance between the absorption frequency of the atoms and the beam frequencies. The diagram in the refutation says it all.
 
  • #4
I like the update on the update. It was very clear.
 

1. What is Devasia Santosh's research on Lorentz violation?

Devasia Santosh's research focuses on studying Lorentz violation, which is a potential violation of the Lorentz invariance principle in the theory of relativity. Lorentz invariance is a fundamental principle that states that the laws of physics should be the same for all observers moving at constant speeds.

2. What is the significance of Lorentz violation in the field of physics?

If Lorentz violation is confirmed, it could challenge the fundamental principles of modern physics, such as the theory of relativity and the standard model of particle physics. It could also potentially lead to the development of new theories and a deeper understanding of the universe.

3. How does Devasia Santosh's research contribute to the understanding of Lorentz violation?

Devasia Santosh's research involves using precision measurements to search for any possible violation of the Lorentz invariance principle. By analyzing data from various experiments, Santosh aims to provide evidence for or against Lorentz violation and contribute to the ongoing discussion and understanding of this phenomenon.

4. What are some potential implications of Lorentz violation being confirmed?

If Lorentz violation is confirmed, it could have significant implications for our understanding of the fundamental laws of physics and the behavior of matter and energy in the universe. It could also potentially lead to the development of new technologies and applications.

5. How does Devasia Santosh's research fit into the broader scientific community?

Devasia Santosh's research is part of a larger effort to study Lorentz violation and its potential impact on our current understanding of physics. Santosh's work is often published in reputable scientific journals and contributes to the ongoing discussion and collaboration among scientists in this field.

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top