Light Barrier: Breaking the Speed of Light?

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter waznboyd
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Barrier Light
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers around the possibility of breaking the light barrier, akin to breaking the sound barrier. Participants reference an article claiming that signals can travel faster than light, but clarify that this is misleading. The phenomenon discussed involves manipulating a medium to alter the signal envelope, not actual faster-than-light travel. Additionally, the concept of Cerenkov radiation is introduced, where particles exceed the speed of light in a medium, creating an optical effect similar to a sonic boom.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Einstein's theory of relativity
  • Familiarity with the concept of light speed as a universal constant
  • Knowledge of Cerenkov radiation and its implications
  • Basic principles of wave propagation in different media
NEXT STEPS
  • Research Einstein's theory of relativity and its implications on speed limits in physics
  • Explore Cerenkov radiation and its applications in particle physics
  • Investigate the properties of different media and their effects on light speed
  • Examine the historical context and scientific scrutiny of faster-than-light experiments
USEFUL FOR

Physics students, researchers in theoretical physics, and anyone interested in the implications of relativity and light speed limitations.

waznboyd
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Hi, just got into the topic of relativity and got curious. Is it possible to break the light barrier similiarly to the sound barrier? I have just found an article that someone had done it. http://www.lastek.com.au/light.htm What are your views on this?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
waznboyd said:
Hi, just got into the topic of relativity and got curious. Is it possible to break the light barrier similiarly to the sound barrier? I have just found an article that someone had done it. http://www.lastek.com.au/light.htm What are your views on this?
It should be impossible for a message (information) or energy or particles to travel faster than light. But waves can travel faster than light--as an analogy, imagine a long row of people on a giant bench "doing the wave", with each person having a pre-arranged time to stand, you could easily arrange things so that two people 1 light-year apart would stand up less than a year apart, so the wave of people standing would travel faster than light.

This article goes into more detail on the experiment you linked to, and why it does not conflict with relativity, if you're interested.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
waznboyd said:
Hi, just got into the topic of relativity and got curious. Is it possible to break the light barrier similiarly to the sound barrier? I have just found an article that someone had done it. http://www.lastek.com.au/light.htm What are your views on this?

This account is highly misleading. They did NOT send signals faster than light; they exploited a strange medium that permitted them to "invert" the leading edge and the trailing edge of the signal envelope so the trailing edge came out of the medium before the leading edge. There was a lot of hoo-hah about the experiment at the time (2000) and it was eventually straightened out. Relativity does not allow massive objects to travel faster than light.

That said, in an ordinary medium like water light is slowed down, and there it is possible for a fast moving particle to outstrip its own light. When that happens you get an optical equivalent of the sonic boom that accompanies breaking the sound barrier. This is called "Cerenkov radiation"
(the C in Cerenkov is supposed to have a little v-mark over it to indicate it's pronounced like the ch in chair: CHAIR-en-koff).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for the information guys, this proves to be very interesting indeed.
 

Similar threads

Undergrad Faster Than Light Particle: Could it Create the Universe?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
Undergrad Can Propeller Speeds and Wave Breaks Challenge the Speed of Light?
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
2K
High School How does Einstein's equation work? Why do we need to square c?
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
2K
High School Why is the constant speed of light so unique?
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
1K
Undergrad The Einstein Clock aka Light Clock
  • · Replies 34 ·
2
Replies
34
Views
3K
Undergrad Conventionality of the One-Way Speed of Light
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
1K
Undergrad Why is Rømer's light speed measurement not one-way?
  • · Replies 42 ·
2
Replies
42
Views
3K
High School Where am I wrong in this travelling faster than light Idea I've had?
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
4K
Undergrad Energy contained in fuel in speed of light ship
  • · Replies 31 ·
2
Replies
31
Views
3K
Undergrad Standing light waves if the one-way speed of light were not constant?
  • · Replies 36 ·
2
Replies
36
Views
3K