Faster than Light Neutrinos at CERN

In summary, Cern has conducted an experiment where they measured neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light. This was done by using two clocks, one in Switzerland and one in Italy, to measure the time it took for the neutrinos to travel between the two locations. However, due to factors such as gravitational field intensity and instabilities in the Earth's crust, it may be impossible to make an accurate measurement of the neutrinos' velocity. This has sparked a discussion among experts in the S&GR forum.
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Cern has reported they have measured neutrinos going faster than the speed of light. Did they send a light beam as a test case to see any variance in c of the light beam?

Also, were two clocks involved in the measurement? One in Switzerland and one in Italy? If so, wouldn’t it be impossible for these two clocks to tick at exactly the same rate or to be consistently synchronized at the nano second level? That is, this experiment was not conducted in pure, inertial space but within the gravitational curvature of space due to the Earth at the surface of the earth.

And the gravitational field intensity at the surface in Switzerland could not be precisely the same at the detector location in Italy. Hence, the two clocks could never tick at the same rate.

Because of instabilities of the earth’s crust- plate movements, changes in density of the Earth's crust, seismic dynamics, the changing distance between the center of mass of the Earth and a given point on the earth- all of these factors would fluctuate the gravitational field intensity at the earth’s surface for any given point on the earth’s surface.

And thus the difference in clock rates at the two points in the experiment would never be consistent.

Wouldn't these factors render it impossible to make a precise velocity measurement of the neutrinos or am I missing something?
 
Physics news on Phys.org

1. What are faster than light neutrinos?

Neutrinos are tiny particles that are constantly traveling through space. They were previously thought to have no mass and to only travel at the speed of light. However, the recent experiment at CERN suggests that they may in fact be capable of traveling faster than light.

2. How were faster than light neutrinos detected at CERN?

The OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus) experiment at CERN involved sending a beam of neutrinos from a particle accelerator in Geneva to a detector in Gran Sasso, Italy. The neutrinos were detected to have arrived at the detector 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light would allow.

3. What does this mean for Einstein's theory of relativity?

Einstein's theory of relativity states that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. The discovery of faster than light neutrinos at CERN challenges this theory and has caused much debate and further research in the scientific community.

4. How can neutrinos travel faster than light?

At this point, it is still unclear how neutrinos are able to travel faster than light. Some theories suggest that they may have a tiny amount of mass, allowing them to travel faster, while others propose the existence of a new type of particle that interacts with neutrinos and can increase their speed.

5. What are the implications of faster than light neutrinos?

If the results from the CERN experiment are confirmed, it could mean a major breakthrough in our understanding of the laws of physics and the universe. It could also have practical applications in fields such as communication and transportation, as faster than light travel would significantly decrease travel time and increase efficiency.

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