Communication with no time boundaries?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the concept of a perfectly rigid pole connecting the Moon and Earth, questioning whether a push on one end would be felt instantly at the other. It is established that perfectly rigid bodies cannot exist according to Special Relativity, which prohibits the transmission of information faster than the speed of light. The conversation highlights that vibrations in materials, governed by electromagnetic forces, cannot exceed the speed of sound, which is significantly slower than light. Additionally, there are philosophical musings on the relationship between information, matter, and entropy, suggesting a more complex understanding of the universe. Ultimately, the discussion emphasizes the limitations imposed by the laws of physics on the transmission of force and information.
wrekced
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Assuming a perfectly rigid pole stretching from the Moon to the Earth. Wouldn't pushing on one end be felt instantly at the other?
 
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wrekced said:
Assuming a perfectly rigid pole stretching from the Moon to the Earth. Wouldn't pushing on one end be felt instantly at the other?
If perfectly rigid poles exists, then yes information could be transmitted instantly. However, perfectly rigid bodies are forbidden by Special Relativity.
 
Hootenanny said:
If perfectly rigid poles exists, then yes information could be transmitted instantly. However, perfectly rigid bodies are forbidden by Special Relativity.

Hmmm. Thanks! How in particular does Special Relativity forbid perfectly rigid bodies?
 
wrekced said:
Hmmm. Thanks! How in particular does Special Relativity forbid perfectly rigid bodies?
SR forbids perfectly rigid bodies precisely because it violates the postulate that information cannot be transmitted faster than the speed of light.
 
Information and matter are two different things. In a sense matter isn't moving anywhere. Its the communication between each particle?
 
wrekced said:
Hmmm. Thanks! How in particular does Special Relativity forbid perfectly rigid bodies?

What do you think holds the molecules in a material together? Electromagnetic forces, which is governed by SR. When you transmit any vibration in a material, that vibration is being transferred via such EM forces. So it cannot be faster than c. In fact, it is quite a bit slower because the molecules/atoms have masses.

Zz.
 
Aethelwulf said:
Information and matter are two different things. In a sense matter isn't moving anywhere. Its the communication between each particle?
Information and matter are indeed two different things, but matter does move in this case. If you apply a force to a rod - it moves.
 
If you push one end of the pole of length L the other end won't start to move until a time t=c/L later,where c is the speed of sound; which is much, much lower than the speed of light . Hence, it is not a very efficient way of transfering information.

Example: the speed of sound in e.g. steel is about 4500 m/s, meaning if you push one end of a 1 km long steel pole the other end won't start to move until 1000/4500=0.2 seconds later.
 
Information and matter are two different things.

Says who? Oh how naive we are..."we know much, we understand little."

New views of the universe as a quantum computer say information is the basic constituent of matter and energy...and anyway, information theory can be viewed as a more general theory of entropy...as usual, everything is linked in mysterious ways we so often fail to discern.

Before Einstein, time and space were thought to be fixed, different, unrelated entities...having little if anything to do with gravity...people would have laughed at the thought they are so intimately related before Einstein's insights.

As nature increases entropy over time it also dissipates information...see DECODING THE UNIVERSE, Charles, Seife...also some views in Wikipedia...
 
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