Tachyon and antiparticle difference

In summary: Photons are not matter and do not have antiparticles.In summary, tachyons and antiparticles are two completely different concepts. Tachyons are hypothetical particles that would travel faster than the speed of light and could potentially be used to send messages to the past. Anti-particles, on the other hand, are associated with corresponding particles and have the same mass, traveling at subluminal speeds. It is a misconception that both tachyons and antiparticles travel backwards in time.
  • #1
phoenix95
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What is the difference between tachyons and antiparticles?
 
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  • #2
They are completely different concepts. What makes you think otherwise?
 
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  • #3
It seems that they both travel backwards in time, or am I missing something?
 
  • #4
That is a misconception (on both accounts) from popularised science. Tachyons are hypothetical and would travel faster than the speed of light. If they exist, then you could in principle use them to send a message to your past. Whether or not they "travel" backwards in time would be a question of reference frames.

Anti-particles are a different story all-together. There is a very particular sense popular science authors are using to say that they are "particles traveling backwards in time", but they very often fail to specify what that sense is. Anti-particles are associated with the corresponding particles and have the same mass. They travel at subluminal speeds (or at light speed if massless). Tachyons have nothing to do with normal particles and would travel at superluminal speeds.
 
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  • #5
That was helpful, thanks again :)
 
  • #6
Orodruin said:
That is a misconception (on both accounts) from popularised science. Tachyons are hypothetical and would travel faster than the speed of light. If they exist, then you could in principle use them to send a message to your past. Whether or not they "travel" backwards in time would be a question of reference frames.

Anti-particles are a different story all-together. There is a very particular sense popular science authors are using to say that they are "particles traveling backwards in time", but they very often fail to specify what that sense is. Anti-particles are associated with the corresponding particles and have the same mass. They travel at subluminal speeds (or at light speed if massless). Tachyons have nothing to do with normal particles and would travel at superluminal speeds.
Hi! Are the anti particles in some sense the hypothetical resultant entities of quantum interaction between the photons and the anti-matter of the universe they travel through?
 
  • #7
No.

Antimatter is made out of antiparticles (by definition).
 

1. What is a tachyon and how does it differ from a regular particle?

A tachyon is a hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light. It differs from a regular particle because it violates the laws of physics as we currently understand them. While regular particles have mass and can never reach or exceed the speed of light, tachyons have imaginary mass and always travel faster than light.

2. Can tachyons be detected and studied in a laboratory?

Currently, there is no evidence that tachyons exist and they cannot be detected or studied in a laboratory. The concept of tachyons is purely theoretical and has not been observed in any experiments. However, some scientists are still researching the possibility of detecting and studying tachyons in the future.

3. Are there any practical applications for tachyons?

As tachyons are purely theoretical, there are no known practical applications for them. However, some scientists have proposed theories about using tachyons for communication or time travel. These ideas are still highly speculative and have not been proven.

4. What is an antiparticle and how does it differ from a regular particle?

An antiparticle is a particle that has the same mass as a regular particle but opposite charge. For example, the antiparticle of an electron is a positron, which has the same mass as an electron but a positive charge. When a particle and its antiparticle come into contact, they annihilate each other and release energy.

5. How do tachyons and antiparticles differ?

Tachyons and antiparticles are fundamentally different concepts. While tachyons are hypothetical particles that travel faster than the speed of light, antiparticles are real particles with the same mass as regular particles but opposite charge. Additionally, tachyons have imaginary mass, while antiparticles have the same mass as regular particles. They also have different properties and behaviors, as tachyons violate the laws of physics while antiparticles follow the same laws as regular particles.

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