OPERA neutrinos and relativity

Abstract

In a recent study, Cohen and Glashow argue that superluminal neutrinos of the type recently reported by OPERA should be affected by anomalous Cherenkov-like processes. This causes them to loose much of their energy before reaching the OPERA detectors. Related concerns were reported also by Gonzalez-Mestres and Bi et. al., who argued that pions cannot decay to superluminal neutrinos over part of the energy range studied by OPERA. We observe here that these arguments are set within a framework in which Lorentz symmetry is broken, by the presence of a preferred frame. We further show that these anomalous processes are forbidden if Lorentz symmetry is instead "deformed", preserving the relativity of inertial frames. These deformations add non-linear terms to energy momentum relations, conservation laws and Lorentz transformations in a way that is consistent with the relativity of inertial observers.

5 pages, some citations added; in v3 a footnote added and minor changes in the text made, the final version to appear in MPLA