Theos-Talk Archives (June 2000 Message tt00093)

Here's something interesting from the theos-l mailing list.

-- Eldon

>From: "Gerald Schueler" <gschueler@earthlink.net>
>Subject: Faster than Light
>Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 19:18:01 -0400
>
>For those interested in science, I just recieved the following email from
>the Technical Director at the Army Evaluation Center, where I work as a
>contractor. I am copying it below in full. The scientific implications, if
>true, would seem to be staggering.
>
>Jerry S.
>
>******************************
>
>June 4 2000 UNITED STATES
>Eureka! Scientists break speed of light  Jonathan Leake
><mailto:jonathan.leake@sunday-times.co.uk>, Science Editor
>
>SCIENTISTS claim they have broken the ultimate speed barrier: the speed of
>light.  In research carried out in the United States, particle physicists
>have shown that light pulses can be accelerated to up to 300 times their
>normal velocity of 186,000 miles per second.  The implications, like the
>speed, are mind-boggling. On one interpretation it means that light will
>arrive at its destination almost before it has started its journey. In
>effect, it is leaping forward in time.  Exact details of the findings remain
>confidential because they have been submitted to Nature, the international
>scientific journal, for review prior to possible publication.  The work was
>carried out by Dr Lijun Wang, of the NEC research institute in Princeton,
>who transmitted a pulse of light towards a chamber filled with specially
>treated caesium gas.  Before the pulse had fully entered the chamber it had
>gone right through it and travelled a further 60ft across the laboratory. In
>effect it existed in two places at once, a phenomenon that Wang explains by
>saying it travelled 300 times faster than light.  The research is already
>causing controversy among physicists. What bothers them is that if light
>could travel forward in time it could carry information. This would breach
>one of the basic principles in physics - causality, which says that a cause
>must come before an effect. It would also shatter Einstein's theory of
>relativity since it depends in part on the speed of light being
>unbreachable.  This weekend Wang said he could not give details but
>confirmed: "Our light pulses did indeed travel faster than the accepted
>speed of light. I hope it will give us a much better understanding of the
>nature of light and how it behaves."  Dr Raymond Chiao, professor of physics
>at the University of California at Berkeley, who is familiar with Wang's
>work, said he was impressedby the findings. "This is a fascinating
>experiment," he said.  In Italy, another group of physicists has also
>succeeded in breaking the light speed barrier. In a newly published paper,
>physicists at the Italian National Research Council described how they
>propagated microwaves at 25% above normal light speed. The group speculates
>that it could be possible to transmit information faster than light.  Dr
>Guenter Nimtz, of Cologne University, an expert in the field, agrees. He
>believes that information can be sent faster than light and last week gave a
>paper describing how it could be done to a conference in Edinburgh. He
>believes, however, that this will not breach the principle of causality
>because the time taken to interpret the signal would fritter away all the
>savings.  "The most likely application for this is not in time travel but in
>speeding up the way signals move through computer circuits," he said.
>Wang's experiment is the latest and possibly the most important evidence
>that the physical world may not operate according to any of the accepted
>conventions.  In the new world that modern science is beginning to perceive,
>sub-atomic particles can apparently exist in two places at the same time -
>making no distinction between space and time.  Separate experiments carried
>out by Chiao illustrate this. He showed that in certain circumstances
>photons - the particles of which light is made - could apparently jump
>between two points separated by a barrier in what appears to be zero time.
>The process, known as tunnelling, has been used to make some of the most
>sensitive electron microscopes.  The implications of Wang's experiments will
>arouse fierce debate. Many will question whether his work can be interpreted
>as proving that light can exceed its normal speed - suggesting that another
>mechanism may be at work.  Neil Turok, professor of mathematical physics at
>Cambridge University, said he awaited the details with interest, but added:
>"I doubt this will change our view of the fundamental laws of physics."
>Wang emphasises that his experiments are relevant only to light and may not
>apply to other physical entities. But scientists are beginning to accept
>that man may eventually exploit some of these characteristics for
>inter-stellar space travel.
>
>Henry A. Romberg, Technical Director
>Combat Support Evaluation Directorate


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