https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-15859-x
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Propagation effects of Lorentz violation in gravitational waves
1
Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Caixa Postal 5008, 58051-970, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
2
Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Caixa Postal 10071, 58429-900, Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil
3
Center for Theoretical Physics, Khazar University, 41 Mehseti Street, 1096, Baku, Azerbaijan
4
School of Physics, Damghan University, 3671641167, Damghan, Iran
5
Department of Chemistry and Physics, Federal University of Paraíba, Rodovia BR 079-km 12, 58397-000, Areia, PB, Brazil
a
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Received:
25
March
2026
Accepted:
15
May
2026
Published online:
9
June
2026
Abstract
We investigate the propagation of gravitational waves in the presence of Lorentz- and diffeomorphism-violating operators within the linearized gravitational sector of the Standard Model Extension. Focusing on isotropic contributions, we analyze the combined effects of the CPT-even dimension-four coefficient 
and the CPT-odd dimension-five coefficient 
on tensorial gravitational radiation. The modified dispersion relation induces both a rescaling of the propagation speed and helicity-dependent corrections, leading to birefringence and polarization mixing without introducing additional propagating degrees of freedom. We derive the retarded Green function associated with the modified wave operator and obtain explicit expressions for the gravitational waveform generated by matter sources. As an application, we examine a binary black hole system and show how Lorentz violation alters the observed strain through shifted retarded times, amplitude rescaling, and higher derivative corrections to the quadrupole formula. Using GW170817/GRB 170817A, published GWTC-3 propagation tests, and conservative polarization consistency arguments, we translate existing observational constraints into bounds on and .
© The Author(s) 2026
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