Can communication between two distant points be instantaneous?

[BrianS]

I'm working on an illustrative analogy for instantaneous communication by entangled particles.

I am planning to write something along these lines, but I want to see if anyone can tell me if I'm missing something here:

"Imagine a rod that is connected in a frictionless and weightless environment between two distant points. The rod is solid, with a material that is so dense that it will not compress.

An operator (sender) at one end taps a morse-code message to a receiver at the other end. The rod moves easily with each tap, and thus, the message is communicated instantaneously between the sender and receiver - because the rod connects the two locations..."

Is there some reason this would not work?

 

[jtbell]

The rod is solid, with a material that is so dense that it will not compress.

Sorry, there's no such thing.

 

[BrianS]

Sorry, there's no such thing.

So that is the problem with this example - there will be a compression wave that moves at no faster than C?

 

[jtbell]

Bingo!

 

[BrianS]

Awesome, thanks for the quick help. That saved me some grief

 

[CWatters]

I might be wrong but i believe the wave would only move at about the speed of sound in the material of the rod.

 

[davenn]

So that is the problem with this example - there will be a compression wave that moves at no faster than C?

I might be wrong but i believe the wave would only move at about the speed of sound in the material of the rod.

yup exactly .. the speed of sound relative to the density of the rod's composition

 

[Dale]

Is there some reason this would not work?

Here is a FAQ on the question

https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/can-i-send-a-signal-faster-than-light-by-pushing-a-rigid-rod/

 

[A.T.]

Is there some reason this would not work?

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