New Precision Tests of the Einstein Equivalence Principle from Sn1987a

Abstract

The serendipitous observation of neutrinos and light from the recent supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud has provided a wealth of new information about stellar collapse and about neutrinos. It is pointed out that, in addition, the nearly simultaneous arrival of the photons and neutrinos after a journey of some 160 000 yr provides a new, stringent test of the Einstein equivalence principle on intergalactic distance scales. The relativistic time delays of the photons and neutrinos from SN1987A caused by the gravitational field of our Galaxy are compared, and it is shown that they are equal, to an accuracy of approximately 0.2% of the predicted delay.