Some Things Can Apparently Move Faster Than The Speed of Light
In a report in the current issue of Nature magazine, researchers report that they have clear evidence that something can actually travel faster than light – or at least appear to do so. Moreover, the researchers contend that this is not at odds with Einstein’s theories pertaining to relativity. Rather, it takes advantage of some of the less commonly considered implications of this theory. The experiment involved sending a laser beam pulse through a cell filled with Cesium vapor and adjusting the frequency components of the pulse light in a very precise fashion such that the laser light appeared to leave the cell before it had entered it. This effect has been seen before, but up until this announcement significant distortion called the results into question. According to Nature researchers have demonstrated that “effect proceeding cause should be impossible, but the explanation may be that no actual signal is moving faster than c [the speed of light], rather the electromagnetic response of the atomic system is producing the appearance of such an event. “ The immediate applications? Faster than light travel is not a direct indication. Nor is time travel. Rather, this research – and other similar projects – are likely to lead to ways in which information can be moved at much higher speeds than is currently possible – the most obvious possibility being within computers. Related Links ° 19 July 2000: Beam Breaks Light Barrier , Discovery.com “More or less you can’t go faster than the speed of light,” said Lijun Wang. But the restriction that applies to things made of matter does not apply to light waves.” ° 19 July 2000: Clarifying Einstein’s rules of the road, MSNBC “Can anything break the cosmic speed limit of 186,000 ° 20 July 2000: Travelling over c, Nature ° 20 July 2000: Gain-assisted superluminal light propagation [abstract], Nature “Einstein’s theory of special relativity and the principle of causality imply that the speed of any moving object cannot exceed that of light in a vacuum (c). Nevertheless, there exist various proposals for observing faster-than- c propagation of light pulses, using anomalous dispersion near an absorption line, nonlinear and linear gain lines, or tunnelling barriers. Here we use gain-assisted linear anomalous dispersion to demonstrate superluminal light propagation in atomic caesium gas. The observed superluminal light pulse propagation is not at odds with causality, being a direct consequence of classical interference between its different frequency components in an anomalous
“Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light”. This admonition about superluminal travel from Einstein stood as an intellectual challenge for most of the past century. While Science fiction television series regularly flaunted this speed limit, the physics of today was unable to do so – at least not in a fashion wherein the results can be considered conclusive.
miles per second? For weeks, scientific circles have been
buzzing about an experiment that pulsed light through a special
chamber so fast that it left the apparatus before it fully entered
it. Now the research has been released at last, and the
experimenters say their findings contradict no laws of physics
– just the misconceptions people have about them.”
dispersion region.”