Robust limits on Lorentz violation from gamma-ray bursts

We constrain the possibility of a non-trivial refractive index in free space corresponding to an energy-dependent velocity of light: c(E) similar or equal to c(0)(1 - E/M), where M is a mass scale that might represent effect of quantum-gravitational space-time foam, using the arrival times of sharp features observed in the intensities of radiation with different energies from a large sample of gamma-ray bursters (GRBs) with known redshifts. We use wavelet techniques to identify genuine features, which we confirm in simulations with artificial added noise. Using the weighted averages of the time-lags calculated using correlated features in all the GRB light curves, we find a systematic tendency for more energetic photons to arrive earlier. However, there is a very strong correlation between the parameters characterizing an intrinsic time-lag at the source and a distance-dependent propagation effect. Moreover, the significance of the earlier arrival times is less evident for a subsample of more robust spectral structures. Allowing for intrinsic stochastic time-lags in these features, we establish a statistically robust lower limit: M > 0.9 x 10(16) GeV on the scale of violation of Lorentz invariance. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.