(published on ) Follow-Up #1: OPERA, neutrinos, and backwards time In the experiment caused a 60ns timing error. 22: Today the news came out that a loose connection If it is true I'm going to throw out all my physics books and start reading Tolstoy's 'War and Peace'. No doubt other experimental groups will be hot on the trail to verify or deny this result. So many experiments have been performed in the past on speed of light phenomena that have given the same result, including light itself as well as particles with mass such as electrons or muons. Nevertheless, like Mike, I am very reluctant to give up my cherished theory of Special Relativity. The OPERA group is well respected in the physics community and their result has to be considered very seriously. In fact the authors have investigated many more possible sources of measurement uncertainties than I could think of. I plowed through their paper and could not see any glaring errors. Still, of all the ways that we think our basic principles might break down, this seems like one of the least likely.Īs for the parts of your question about light circling around, etc., I can't quite follow it. The latest experiments concern higher-energy neutrinos, so in principle they aren't in direct disagreement. Usually (but not always) when some result contradicts an extremely well-tested general principle, the problem is with the result, not the principle.Īs background, it's known from supernovae observations that low-energy neutrinos travel at speeds extremely close to c. The reason is that the entire structure of modern physics is built around Special Relativity, which has allowed a huge number of extremely precise predictions, but does not allow things like neutrinos to exceed the speed of light. They also indicate that it's too weird a result to simply accept yet. The experimental group has a very good reputation and tried very hard to be careful about this difficult experiment. I must say (we'll soon hear Lee's views as well) that I believe the result is mistaken. You have the honor of being the first to ask us about the new results from OPERA, in which their measurements indicate a neutrino speed faster than light.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |