A recent hype has been built up regarding the detection of a potential Superluminal particle path. I do not know whether this is a valid experiment or not – further tests by several independent scientists needs to be made – but it is naturally interesting to contemplate the possibility. The news hype is unfortunately misdirected when statements like “Experiment could crush Einstein’s theory” arise. It is impossible to “crush” the theory of relativity. The (here special) theory of relativity has been verified in many experiments. Given that this recent superluminal experiment is verified it could potentially show that there are exceptions to special relativity that limits it’s validity. And that would indeed be interesting. However there are already quantum mechanical exceptions to special relativity – such as Bell’s theorem and experiments with the EPR-paradox – hinting that there is a more fundamental theory that unifies both.
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Regarding the recent “faster than speed of light” measurement Monday, Sep 26 2011
Notes and comments jdmunkhammar 12:27 pm
A recent hype has been built up regarding the detection of a potential Superluminal particle path. I do not know whether this is a valid experiment or not – further tests by several independent scientists needs to be made – but it is naturally interesting to contemplate the possibility. The news hype is unfortunately misdirected when statements like “Experiment could crush Einstein’s theory” arise. It is impossible to “crush” the theory of relativity. The (here special) theory of relativity has been verified in many experiments. Given that this recent superluminal experiment is verified it could potentially show that there are exceptions to special relativity that limits it’s validity. And that would indeed be interesting. However there are already quantum mechanical exceptions to special relativity – such as Bell’s theorem and experiments with the EPR-paradox – hinting that there is a more fundamental theory that unifies both.
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