Breaking the Bounds of Physical Imagination?

Question

Well, recently I have been wondering about some physics questions that I have came up with. So I will just list them and feel free to answer which ones you can:

1. If an object gets closer and closer to the speed of light it gains (in mass) exponentially, then:
- Can we make an object without mass reach that speed?
- Can we make objects without mass (besides electrons)?
- At the speed of light is there time?
- Can a living organism have a mass of zero so that it may reach the speed of light?

2. In regards to space:

- Does space have any physical attributes so that it is malleable? (A bit broad but do your best!)

Extra comments: I am a strong believer in imagination and intelligence, I am often amazed at how my peers are so involved in Social conduct that they become numb to everything else, it is always important to remember to have an equal balance of interaction in your life. Try not to focus on just one thing!

Get out and live.

Answer 1

1. Only massless particles can travel at the speed of light, like photons or light.

If you were able to travel at the speed of light, you will still experience time normally, but an observer on Earth would see you frozen as if time has stopped for you.

Currently, no living organism can have a mass of zero, since even electrons and protons have some very tiny amount of mass. However, physicists today believe that mass is a characteristic of matter mainly due to a field called the Higgs Field. This field permeates throughout space, and whenever matter encounters this field, it acquires "mass". The more matter there is, the more mass there is. It is analogous to moving an object in molasses - the bigger it is the harder it is to move it.

It is entirely possible that one day we will be able to create an "anti-Higgs Field" which would effectively make any matter massless, and thus be able to move at the speed of light.

2. Yes space does have physical attributes, and it is malleable. One physical characteristics is speed:

It was discovered that the Universe has been expanding since the Big Bang. What is expanding is the space between galaxies. It also turns out that there is a rate of expansion that we can calculate, i.e. the relative speed of a patch of space moving away from you . We currently also know that there are parts of the Universe, the space is moving away at speeds greater than the speed of light.

However, since space is not an object, this is NOT a violation of Einstein's Relativity Theory.

Another physical attribute of space is energy. It turns out that empty space by itself contains energy. It is called vacuum energy or zero-point energy. It is recently discovered that this energy is responsible for causing expansion of the Universe to accelerate instead of slowing down.

Answer 2

1. a. Yes, photos have that speed and no mass. They are the only known particles that can travel at light speed.
b. No, and electrons actually have mass.
c. At the speed of light, all dimensional velocity is in one spatial direction, hence time and two other dimensions are stationary.
d. A living organism with no mass would not consist of any matter. In short, No.

2. a. Malleable? Gravity can warp space, but I am unsure of the context of your question.

Extra comments: Sometimes there is a need for focus, and sometimes there is a need for living. Sometimes living needs focus, but you are right in that it all needs balance.

Answer 3

Good questions! Some extra comments.

The ONLY 'object' that can travel at c (speed of light) must have zero mass. Hence, in sunlight you don't get your hands 'wet' with photons - they just cease to exist when they reach your hand. In rain of course you DO get wet.

Electrons do have mass, at least because of their charge.

There is no time at c. A photon arrives at the far side of the universe at the same time (to itself) as it left. OR At c nothing else has any size! Science fiction writers often use vast speeds to get people to the far reaches of the universe within one lifetime.

If you want to stretch your imagination, try Quantum theory rather than Relativity. Things are nowhere unless observed, but can simultaneously be in more than one place at any time (if time has any meaning, that is)!

Answer 4

The time dilation of special relativity applies to objects with mass moving near, but not at, the speed of light. Only electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light, and that's a property of spacetime and electromagnetic fields. The radioactive decay rate of a material depends on the reference frame from which you measure it.

General relativity considers spacetime warped in the presence of mass. At the opposite end of the scale, spacetime gets weird at the quantum scale. Some cosmologists consider space to be expanding. That's different from having matter keep spreading out within fixed space, even if that space is unbounded.