Scientists
said on Thursday they recorded particles travelling faster than light - a
finding that could overturn one of Einstein's fundamental laws of the universe.
Antonio Ereditato, spokesman for the international group of researchers,
saidthat measurements taken over three years showed neutrinos pumped from CERN
near Geneva to Gran Sasso in Italy had arrived 60 nanoseconds quicker than
light would have done.
“We have high confidence in our results. We have checked and rechecked for anything that could have distorted our measurements but we found nothing," he said. "We now want colleagues to check them independently.”
If
confirmed, the discovery would undermine Albert Einstein's 1905 theory of special
relativity, which says that the speed of light is a "cosmic constant"
and that nothing in the universe can travel faster. That assertion, which has
withstood over a century of testing, is one of the key elements of the
so-called Standard Model of physics, which attempts to describe the way the
universe and everything in it works. The totally unexpected finding emerged
from research by a physicists working on an experiment dubbed OPERA run jointly
by the CERN particle research centre near Geneva and the Gran Sasso Laboratory
in central Italy.
A total of
15,000 beams of neutrinos - tiny particles that pervade the cosmos - were fired
over a period of three years from CERN towards Gran Sasso 730 (500 miles) km
away, where they were picked up by giant detectors. Light would have covered
the distance in around 2.4 thousandths of a second, but the neutrinos took 60
nanoseconds - or 60 billionths of a second - less than light beams would have
taken.
“It is a tiny difference,” said Ereditato, who also works at Berne University in Switzerland, “but conceptually it is incredibly important. The finding is so startling that, for the moment, everybody should be very prudent.”
Ereditato
declined to speculate on what it might mean if other physicists, who will be
officially informed of the discovery at a meeting in CERN on Friday, found that
OPERA's measurements were correct.
“I just don't want to think of the implications,” he said. “We are scientists and work with what we know.”
Much
science-fiction literature is based on the idea that, if the light-speed
barrier can be overcome, time travel might theoretically become possible. The
existence of the neutrino, an elementary sub-atomic particle with a tiny amount
of mass created in radioactive decay or in nuclear reactions such as those in
the Sun, was first confirmed in 1934, but it still mystifies researchers.
It can pass
through most matter undetected, even over long distances, and without being
affected. Millions pass through the human body every day, scientists say. To
reach Gran Sasso, the neutrinos pushed out from a special installation at CERN
- also home to the Large Hadron Collider probing the origins of the universe -
have to pass through water, air and rock.
The
underground Italian laboratory, some 120 km (75 miles) to the south of Rome, is
the largest of its type in the world for particle physics and cosmic research.
Around 750 scientists from 22 different countries work there, attracted by the
possibility of staging experiments in its three massive halls, protected from
cosmic rays by some 1,400 metres (4,200 feet) of rock overhead.
What has
happened at CERN?
Scientists
say they have clocked neutrinos – tiny particles smaller than atoms –
travelling at 300,006 kilometres per second, slightly faster than the speed of
light.
What does
that mean?
Einstein's
theory of special relativity says nothing can travel faster than the speed of
light in a vacuum, because photons – light particles – have no mass. Proof that
neutrinos, mysterious subatomic particles which have a tiny amount of mass, can
travel faster would be inconsistent with Einstein's theory.
What are the
knock-on effects?
Einstein's
theory is critical to the Standard Model of physics that helps explain
everything we know about how the universe works, from black holes to the big
bang. If it is shown to be flawed, virtually everything in modern physics and
the fundamental laws of nature would have to be rethought.
Have the results
been proven?
The findings
were such a shock that CERN's scientists spent months checking their data
before making their announcement. But they have asked American and Japanese
teams to confirm the results before they are declared an actual discovery. The
data will also be put online overnight so that it can be scrutinised by experts
across the world.
Does this
mean E does not equal MC squared?
The theory
of special relativity was used to spawn the theory that energy is equal to mass
multiplied by the speed of light squared. It is premature to discount the most
famous equation of all time, but the latest discovery suggests one key
assumption it relies on – that nothing can accelerate faster than light – may
not be wholly accurate.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf you make news like this you should have provided links to source of used quotes, and possibly to article at cern website or something verifable.
ReplyDeleteI cannot find any information about it on CERN website atm :/
Wasnt this published on April 1st :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.physics-astronomy.org/2018/04/breaking-researchers-at-cern-break.html?m=1
CLICKBAIT
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's our new definition for the speed of light. Is there anyone still monitoring the fluctuations in the speed of light?
ReplyDeleteCERN will usher in the end of the world. Opening portals to realms were not supposed to messing with. SCARY!!!!!!!!! VERY SCARY!!!!!
ReplyDelete