Aspects of Electrodynamics Modified by Some Dimension-five Lorentz Violating Interactions

Abstract

Assuming Lorentz symmetry is broken by some fixed vector background, we study the spinor electrodynamics modified by two dimension-five Lorentz-violating interactions between fermions and photons. The effective polarization and magnetization are identified from the modified Maxwell equations, and the theoretical consequences are investigated. We also compute the corrections to the relativistic energy levels of hydrogen atom induced by these Lorentz-violating operators in the absence and presence of uniform external fields in first-order perturbation theory. We find that the hydrogen spectrum is insensitive to the breakdown of Lorentz boost symmetry.