"Nothing is faster than light", that is the absolute physical rule to which all the rules of modern physics bow, and it represents the essence of Einstein's theory of "special relativity". .
causal end
If particles such as tachyons travel faster than the speed of light, they will face dilemmas of reversing time and upending notions of causation.
And causation is the basic principle in physics, if these particles are able to send information faster than the speed of light, according to the theory of special relativity, then tachyons will break the relationship of causation.
To simplify the matter, if there are two events, one of which represents the transmission of the signal from one place, and the second represents the reception of those signals in a different place, then as long as the signal is moving at the speed of light and less, the mathematics of time confirms that all reference moments agree that the transmission event occurred before the reception .
Assuming a signal moving at super-light speed, the causal relationship will be reversed, and the result will happen before the cause!
And there will be moments when the signal was received before it was sent, so these signals travel into the past because one of the basic assumptions of the theory of special relativity says, "The laws of physics must work in the same way every moment, and if it is possible for signals to travel to the past at a moment, then it must May this be possible at all times."
If the observer (A) sends a signal to the observer (B), and this signal is traveling at the speed of light, it will reach the observer (B) at an earlier moment in time, and then the observer (B) will send another signal as a “reply” that will also move at a speed above light to reach observer A at an earlier point in time as well.
In short, Observer A will receive the response before the original signal is transmitted.
"Nothing is faster than light" is the basic principle of Einstein's special theory of relativity (Shutterstock)
New physical theories
But researchers from the University of Warsaw in Poland and the National University of Singapore decided to open new frontiers in the theory of relativity to reach rules that do not contradict current physics, but also pave the way for new physical theories, and published their research study in the "Classical and Quantum Graffiti" journal. Gravity) on December 30th.
According to what was stated in the study's press release - published on the "Phys.org" website - the researchers presented a vision that pushes the theory of special relativity to new horizons based on 3 time dimensions and one spatial dimension (3 + 1 space-time), in contrast to what It was presented by the theory of relativity, which is based on 3 dimensions of space and one dimension of time.
In order not to be the cause of glaring logical contradictions, the new study provided more evidence that reinforces the perception that objects may exceed the speed of light without breaking the current laws of physics.
This new study builds on the previous studies of some of the participating researchers, which posit that the concept of exceeding the speed of light may contribute to building bridges of compatibility between quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of special relativity, two branches of physics that there is no unified comprehensive theory that reconciles them and describes gravity as it describes other cosmic forces. .
According to the framework put forward by the new study, particles will not be depicted or described as point-like elements as is the case in current common three-dimensional representations of the universe (in addition to time).
Instead, to understand what an observer might see and the behavior of faster-than-light particles, the study draws on the kinds of field or quantum field theories that underpin quantum physics.
Within the framework of the new model, faster-than-light objects will appear to the observer (beholder) as particles that expand and expand like a bubble in space, and in this they are no different from waves that pass in a specific field.
On the other hand, this faster-than-light object would experience many different paths or time lines.
At the same time, though, the speed of light in a vacuum will remain constant even for observers who are faster than the speed of light, which preserves one of Einstein's basic tenets, a principle he conceived of from the perspective of observers moving at speeds less than the speed of light (as we are). all).
"Our new definition maintains Einstein's assumption of the constancy of the speed of light in a vacuum even for observers who pass the speed of light, which makes our perception of expanding the limits of the private theory not an exaggeration," says physicist Andre Dragan, one of the researchers involved in the study.
New questions
Although the shift to the one-dimensional model of space and the three dimensions of time answers some questions - as the researchers acknowledge - it in turn raises some new questions, and they stress the need to expand the theory of special relativity to incorporate faster-than-light reference frames (observers).
This might involve drawing on some concepts from quantum field theory, which is a combination of concepts from special relativity, quantum mechanics, and classical field theory (which aims to predict how physical fields interact with one another).
And if the researchers of the study are correct, the particles of the universe will all have superior properties in the new concept of expanding the theory of relativity that the study proposes.
One of the questions raised by the research is how far we can observe this new behavior of particles, but answering that will require researchers a lot of time.
The study does not resolve the question of the actual existence of tachyons, which are hypothetical particles that are always moving faster than the speed of light.
At the present time, most scientists believe that faster-than-light particles cannot exist in nature, because that does not comply with the laws of physics, and if they exist, they may be used to build a tachyonic jammer, send signals faster than light, and will lead to breaches of nature, according to the theory special relativity.
On the other hand, some theories consistent with the potential energy of ultra-light particles do not see in these particles anything that violates nature, unlike the "Lorenz constant" theory similar to the theory of special relativity, and therefore the speed of light is not necessarily an obstacle to the existence of these particles.
Despite theoretical arguments against the existence of metaparticles, no scientific experiments have yet been conducted to confirm the existence of tachyons, nor is there any definitive proof of their existence.