Are There Other Particles Besides Tachyons That Enable Time Travel?

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of particles that may enable time travel, specifically focusing on tachyons and virtual particles. Participants explore the theoretical implications of these particles in relation to time travel, time dilation, and the nature of reality in physics.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that tachyons are hypothetical and have not been observed, questioning their existence as real particles.
  • There is a reference to virtual particles, with one participant suggesting that they travel backwards in time due to their association with faster-than-light travel.
  • Others counter that virtual particles are not real and exist only as mathematical constructs, not physical entities.
  • Participants discuss the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and whether it causes pi mesons to "time travel" by accelerating them close to the speed of light, with some clarifying that this is related to time dilation rather than actual backward time travel.
  • There is a distinction made between time dilation, which affects all objects, and the concept of traveling backwards in time.
  • One participant expresses frustration over repeated questioning without clear objectives, indicating a potential breakdown in communication regarding the nature of virtual particles.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the reality of tachyons or virtual particles, with multiple competing views remaining about their existence and implications for time travel.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes unresolved questions about the definitions of particles, the nature of time travel, and the implications of relativistic effects, particularly in the context of high-energy physics experiments.

byron178
Messages
157
Reaction score
0
Are there any other particles besides tachyons that time travel backwards?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Tachyons are not real particles. They are hypothetical at best. We have never seen anything that travels through time.
 
Drakkith said:
Tachyons are not real particles. They are hypothetical at best. We have never seen anything that travels through time.

what about here on the wiki page it says virtual particles travel backwards in time due to it traveling faster than light. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propagator
 
Virtual particles are not real particles.
 
This is the second time you have asked a question, only to argue about the answer. What are you trying to accomplish?
 
The LHC. Isnt it causing the particles called pi mesons to time travel by accelerating them to a speed close to that of light?
 
Jadenag said:
The LHC. Isnt it causing the particles called pi mesons to time travel by accelerating them to a speed close to that of light?

Are you referring to time dilation, or are you saying they travel through time backwards?
 
Jadenag said:
The LHC. Isnt it causing the particles called pi mesons to time travel by accelerating them to a speed close to that of light?

That isn't time travel, it's just dilation, which actually happens for ALL objects moving at ALL speeds - just not very noticeably, here on Earth. (But look at the relativistic explanation for the magnetic force between two current-carrying wires)
 
Drakkith said:
Are you referring to time dilation, or are you saying they travel through time backwards?

So virtual particles do travel through time backwards?
 
  • #10
Vanadium 50 said:
This is the second time you have asked a question, only to argue about the answer. What are you trying to accomplish?

The reality or non reality of virtual particles.
 
  • #11
byron178 said:
So virtual particles do travel through time backwards?

Virtual particles are purely mathematical entities - they do not exist physically in space - time.
 
  • #12
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar threads

Graduate Tachyon Refraction: Can Massless Particles be Created?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Undergrad A test for a superluminal neutrino?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
Theoretically, could shrinking down to Planck scale enable time travel?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
High School Special relativity thought: Traveling to the future relative to a particle
  • · Replies 29 ·
Replies
29
Views
3K
High School Are Tachyons Real or Just a Theoretical Concept Compared to Photons?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
3K
Undergrad Can Particles Defy Time by Reaching Below Absolute Zero?
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
Graduate Particles traveling backwards in time
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
7K
Time Travel: Setup & Challenges for Safe & Accurate Travel
  • · Replies 49 ·
2
Replies
49
Views
9K
Graduate Effect of High-Energy Particles on Lead
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
Graduate Experimental searches for tachyons
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
4K