E = m * (c + cesium factor)^2
Back in 2000 researchers at Princeton performed an experiment in which they claim they were able to transmit a pulse of light faster than c (186,000 miles per second), which is the maximum speed of light as proposed by Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity.
I find special relativity massively interesting since it radically redefines our picture of how the universe works. The most important implication is that there is no notion of absolute rest in the universe. The velocity of an object is not an intrinsic quality of that object. In order to measure velocity, you must measure the relative velocity of two objects with respect to each other.
Einstein also said that nothing (not even light) could travel faster than the speed c. This is a requirement in Einstein's equations. If information could be transmitted faster than c then the laws of causality would break down. If in one reference frame, information propagates faster than c, than in another reference frame traveling at some sufficiently near c relative velocity, the reception of the information would occur before the actual transmission! This causes all sorts of problems since now mechanisms in the second reference frame could theoretically receive the information and send it back to the transmitting location before it transmits.
In the Cesium experiment, the beginning of the pulse of light (which can be thought of as a wave) touches the front of a transparent chamber filled with excited cesium gas. Sometime after this happens (the amount of time is unclear in the reports of the experiment I have seen) the wave leaves the cesium chamber.
Now the light waves consist of troughs and peaks, like an ocean wave, and the interesting thing is that the peak of the wave is propagated first out of the end of the chamber, whereas a trough of the wave enters the chamber first. So there seems to be a phase shift going on here. Now it is said that it is the transmission of the peak of the wave that occurs faster than c through the Cesium chamber.
But is this really information? I would say no. If the front of the light pulse (ignoring whether it is a trough or peak) does not travel faster than c, than there is no problem here. This is because the frequency of the light pulse is detectable in any part of the waveform. You don't need to see the peak to determine the pulse's frequency. As a result, the effect of the phase shift does not boost the information rate faster than c since the frequency is detectable the instant the wave is received, regardless of its phase.
It is not clear from what I have read if the cesium actually accelerates the front of the wave faster than c within the chamber. If it does then I would be highly skeptical since it truly would be a revolutionary experiment. It seems there is still lots of debate regarding this experiment, on the Internet at least. Many have complained that the details of the experiment have not been stated explicitly. The reality may be that the researchers are still trying to explain the phenomena they observed.
I find special relativity massively interesting since it radically redefines our picture of how the universe works. The most important implication is that there is no notion of absolute rest in the universe. The velocity of an object is not an intrinsic quality of that object. In order to measure velocity, you must measure the relative velocity of two objects with respect to each other.
Einstein also said that nothing (not even light) could travel faster than the speed c. This is a requirement in Einstein's equations. If information could be transmitted faster than c then the laws of causality would break down. If in one reference frame, information propagates faster than c, than in another reference frame traveling at some sufficiently near c relative velocity, the reception of the information would occur before the actual transmission! This causes all sorts of problems since now mechanisms in the second reference frame could theoretically receive the information and send it back to the transmitting location before it transmits.
In the Cesium experiment, the beginning of the pulse of light (which can be thought of as a wave) touches the front of a transparent chamber filled with excited cesium gas. Sometime after this happens (the amount of time is unclear in the reports of the experiment I have seen) the wave leaves the cesium chamber.
Now the light waves consist of troughs and peaks, like an ocean wave, and the interesting thing is that the peak of the wave is propagated first out of the end of the chamber, whereas a trough of the wave enters the chamber first. So there seems to be a phase shift going on here. Now it is said that it is the transmission of the peak of the wave that occurs faster than c through the Cesium chamber.
But is this really information? I would say no. If the front of the light pulse (ignoring whether it is a trough or peak) does not travel faster than c, than there is no problem here. This is because the frequency of the light pulse is detectable in any part of the waveform. You don't need to see the peak to determine the pulse's frequency. As a result, the effect of the phase shift does not boost the information rate faster than c since the frequency is detectable the instant the wave is received, regardless of its phase.
It is not clear from what I have read if the cesium actually accelerates the front of the wave faster than c within the chamber. If it does then I would be highly skeptical since it truly would be a revolutionary experiment. It seems there is still lots of debate regarding this experiment, on the Internet at least. Many have complained that the details of the experiment have not been stated explicitly. The reality may be that the researchers are still trying to explain the phenomena they observed.
posted by flowbeus at 12:02 PM
1 Comments:
This is a really weird experiment. I read somewhere that stuff can actually go faster than light, but you can't transmit information that way, or something. So, there might be some kind of time-travel phenomena here, but not one that you could exploit for some nefarious purpose.
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