Testing kappa-Poincare' with neutral kaons

Abstract

In recent work on experimental tests of quantum-gravity-motivated phenomenological models, a significant role has been played by the so-called ``$\kappa$'' deformations of Poincar\'e symmetries. Sensitivity to values of the relevant deformation length $\lambda$ as small as $5 \cdot 10^{-33}m$ has been achieved in recent analyses comparing the structure of $\kappa$-Poincar\'e symmetries with data on the gamma rays we detect from distant astrophysical sources. We investigate violations of CPT symmetry which may be associated with $\kappa$-Poincar\'e in the physics of the neutral-kaon system. A simple estimate indicates that experiments on the neutral kaons may actually be more $\lambda$-sensitive than corresponding astrophysical experiments, and may already allow to probe values of $\lambda$ of order the Planck length.