I have heard about takeons which are supposed to travel faster than the speed of light. I thought that nothing could travel faster than this. Could someone please explain!
2007-11-30 08:27:03 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
A Tachyons is a hypothetical particle with imaginary rest mass that is stationary in a reference frame corresponding to a mathematical solution to the Lorentz Transformations of Special Relativity that moves faster than the speed of light. It's not known if this solution has any physical significance since all observed particles to date have a non-negative real mass.
Special relativity implies only that a particle with positive real mass cannot be accelerated up to the speed of light. Tachyons are presumed to exceed the speed of light from their moment of their creation. If such a particle existed, it would travel backwards in time. This is the main reason that many suspect that they do not exist. If one could produce them in a particle accelerator, for example, one could modulate the tachyon flux to create a signal with the message "do not make tachyons", send a beam of tachyons along a trajectory that would intercept the location of a tachyon detector set up *last week*, and prevent the tachyon beam from being produced in the first place. This leads to a variant of the "grandfather paradox".
2007-11-30 09:23:53 · answer #1 · answered by Dr. R 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
They are called Tachyons and they don't exist.
Mystery solved.
On a slightly deeper level the answer is that just because you can theorize something, nature does not have to care and make it for you.
2007-11-30 08:32:24 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
If you see a tray of candies with label 'take one' attached, do not hesitate to take one candy.
2007-11-30 08:33:54 · answer #3 · answered by Alexander 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋