Low Energy Lorentz Violation from Modified Dispersion at High Energies

Many quantum theories of gravity propose Lorentz-violating dispersion relations of the form ω=|k|f(|k|/M⋆), with recovery of approximate Lorentz invariance at energy scales much below M⋆. We show that a quantum field with this dispersion predicts drastic low energy Lorentz violation in atoms modeled as Unruh-DeWitt detectors, for any f that dips below unity somewhere. As an example, we show that polymer quantization motivated by loop quantum gravity predicts such Lorentz violation below current ion collider rapidities.