Interpreting doubly special relativity as a modified theory of measurement

Abstract

In this article we develop a physical interpretation for the deformed (doubly) special relativity theories (DSRs), based on a modification of the theory of measurement in special relativity. We suggest that it is useful to regard the DSRs as reflecting the manner in which quantum gravity effects induce Planck-suppressed distortions in the measurement of the “true” energy and momentum. This interpretation provides a framework for the DSRs that is manifestly consistent, nontrivial, and in principle falsifiable. However, it does so at the cost of demoting such theories from the level of fundamental physics to the level of phenomenological models—models that should in principle be derivable from whatever theory of quantum gravity one ultimately chooses to adopt.