Consoli, M. (2009) The physical vacuum of present particle physics and the Theory of Relativity. Il nuovo cimento C, 32 (1). pp. 31-38. ISSN 1826-9885
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Abstract
The broken-symmetry vacuum of present particle physics is modeled as a Bose condensate of elementary quanta whose trivial empty vacuum state is not the true ground state of the theory. The symmetric phase will eventually be reestablished above a critical temperature that, in the Standard Model of electroweak interactions, is so high that, even at ordinary temperatures, one can safely approximate the vacuum as a zero-temperature, superfluid medium where bodies can flow without any apparent friction consistently with the experimental results. In this sense, the basic quantum phenomenon of superfluidity, resolving the apparent contradiction existing in the notion of a “non-empty” vacuum state, seems to provide a key ingredient to reconcile the presently accepted view with the original foundations of Einstein’s special relativity in 1905. Nevertheless, according to general theoretical arguments, this form of “quantum ether” characterizes the physically realized form of relativity and could play the role of preferred reference frame in a modern Lorentzian approach. By adopting a phenomenological two-fluid model of the vacuum, I explore the experimental implications of this scenario in connection with a new generation of dedicated ether-drift experiments.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Lorentz and Poincar´e invariance ; Spontaneous and radiative symmetry breaking ; Special relativity |
| Subjects: | 500 Scienze naturali e Matematica > 530 Fisica |
| Depositing User: | Marina Spanti |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Mar 2020 16:12 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Mar 2020 16:12 |
| URI: | http://eprints.bice.rm.cnr.it/id/eprint/16440 |
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