Constraining velocity-dependent Lorentz and $CPT$ violations using lunar laser ranging

• Published in: Physical review. D 2021-03, Vol.103 (6)
• Main Authors: Bourgoin, A., Bouquillon, S., Hees, A., Le Poncin-Lafitte, C., Bailey, Q.G., Howard, J.J., Angonin, M.-C., Francou, G., Chabé, Julien, Courde, Clément, Torre, J.-M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astrophysics; Physics
• ISSN: 2470-0010; 2470-0029
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.103.064055

The possibility for Lorentz and CPT breaking, which is motivated by unification theories, can be systematically tested within the Standard Model extension (SME) framework. In the pure gravity sector, the mass dimension 5 operators produce new Lorentz- and CPT-breaking terms in the two-body equations of motion that depend on the relative velocity of the bodies, and, hence, they can be constrained with gravity experiments. In this paper, we report new constraints on 15 independent SME coefficients for Lorentz and CPT violations with mass dimension 5 using lunar laser ranging. We perform a global analysis of lunar ranging data within the SME framework using more than 26 000 normal points between 1969 and 2018. We also perform a jackknife analysis in order to provide realistic estimates of the systematic uncertainties. No deviation from Lorentz and CPT symmetries is reported. In addition, when fitting simultaneously for the 15 canonical SME coefficients for Lorentz and CPT violations, we improve up to 3 orders of magnitude previous postfit constraints from radio pulsars.