There was once a young man from Wight
Who could travel faster than the speed of light.
He went out one day
In a relative way
And returned home the previous night.
Who could travel faster than the speed of light.
He went out one day
In a relative way
And returned home the previous night.
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Tue, November 9, 2004 - 6:36 AM -
-
Unsu...
Re: Faster then Light...
Tue, November 9, 2004 - 6:46 AMDon't molecular bonds break down as you near C? I thought particals slowed (relatively) and condensed?
-M -
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Wed, November 10, 2004 - 10:37 AMObjects in a moving frame of reference APPEAR to slow down and shorten to an observer. In kind, the observer's frame of reference is moving with respect to the object, and so the observer, if observed by the object, would also APPEAR to slow down and shorten to the object. It is an illusion spawned by the two reference frames moving with respect to one another -- relative to one another. (Hence "relativity".)
But the characteristics of the observer as observered by the observer would appear normal, as too the characteristics of the object as observed by the object. So, for example, a molecule or particle moving at near the speed of light with respect to you doesn't "feel" any different than if it were not moving with respect to you -- the laws of physics and chemistry are the same in both reference frames -- molecular bonds don't break down just because it's moving relative to another object. -
-
Unsu...
Re: Faster then Light...
Wed, November 10, 2004 - 12:36 PMSo if a mass achieves the same velocity as an electron moving around a nucleus the atomic structure of the mass will not dissolve into energy.....? -
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Thu, November 11, 2004 - 4:49 PMWell, there's no such thing as the "velocity of an electron moving around a nucleus." The physics of subatomic, atomic, and, to some degree, molecular particles is dominated by quantum mechanics. If you measure the velocity of an electron, then it can not be localized to the vicinity of a nucleus. If you measure the position of an electron, then its velocity can not be determined. This is known as the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
The "particle", or at least the ability to make measurements about the particle, is probabilistic. In the Bohr interpretation of Q.M., the probability function IS the particle. It exists every where with certain odds of being at a particular place. In the Bohm interpretation of Q.M., the probability function describes the odds of branching between universes, popularly known as alternate realities. These two interpretations are mathematically equivalent, and both allow for a small, but finite, probability of particles, or a field associated with the particle (gravity, information, etc.), to at least appear to travel at, or exceed, the speed of light.
That said, I presume you are envisioning a mass being accelerated nearly to the speed of light. Assuming the mass survived the mechanical stresses involved in the acceleration, it will not "dissolve" into energy. In fact, in the mass's frame of reference, it is you, the observer, that is moving nearly at the speed of light. Neither you nor the mass "dissolve" just because you're moving RELATIVE to one another. -
-
Unsu...
Re: Faster then Light...
Sat, November 13, 2004 - 7:40 AMI hope you are teaching this somewhere, because I think I followed that. :)
Thanks,
Martin -
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Mon, December 6, 2004 - 8:06 AMIn quantum theory subatomic entities can be either particles or energy and do change between the two states. Check out the Imperial College web site, they do a lot of research in this area and have a cosmologist who is leading the development of a theory of variable speed light. His book is very readable and the subject quite facinating.
I do like the limrick. We are a ways off from knowing what out there may include a practical means of exceeding light; if anything does. Please note that before 1947 many scientists weren't sure of what would happen during the attempt to exceed the speed of sound. There were theoriticians that had worked out what could be expected but no one knew for sure. A few years prior to that the existance of a sound barrier was neither known or understood. Science is a forensic like process where one searches for clues and then attempts to figure out what the clues mean. The first step is to realize one has a clue; versus the condition of being clueless. -
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Mon, December 6, 2004 - 8:21 AMI had a clue once. I lost it when I was about 10 or 11 - sure do miss it.... -
-
This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Faster then Light...
Mon, December 6, 2004 - 6:23 PMNow, now don't worry about missing clues; daddy Beowulf will help you find them. Would you like some candy little girl?
-
-
-
Unsu...
Re: Faster then Light...
Mon, December 6, 2004 - 6:40 PMThat is unfortunate, because nearly every point made is incorrect.
Here are a couple of texts by Abraham Pais, a friend and colleague of Einstein's at Princeton. They ought to get you started on the right track.
Inward Bound. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Subtle is the Lord. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1982.
'The Undivided Universe,' by Bohm & Hiley, will give you a good sense of what Bohm was about.
Finally, here is a link to a recent paper by 't Hooft, "Determinism beneath Quantum Mechanics":
arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0212095
Much of the last item will be well over your head for some time to come, but it might suggest to you that the fundamental issues at play are by no means as settled as many would have you believe. Happily, as Wheeler & Tegmark remark in their Sci Am article on "100 Years of Quantum Theory," the reign of Copenhagen would appear to be at an end.
www.hep.upenn.edu/~max/quantum1.html -
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Tue, December 7, 2004 - 6:05 AM'Subtle is the Lord' is one of my favorite books. A better primer for someone delving into Einstein would be Nigel Calder's 'Einstein's Universe'
Recently I've seen Einstein's original papers on special relativity in reprint. The papers are photocopies of the original work with side by side translation.
I have several copies of tranlated reprints of his various works, but am missing my copy of Brownian Motion.
Go to the Imperial College web page for discussions on variable speed light 'VSL' and aspects of string theory.
-
-
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Tue, June 14, 2005 - 7:36 PMron- i enjoy your teaching too. i have a couple of questions:
if an object moving near the speed of light experiences no perceived change in the passage of time, but to an observer watching, the object's "aging" appears to slow down, (relative to the observers frame of reference)...does that mean that *if* the object *could* reach the speed of light, it's "aging" (relative to the observer) would stop completely?
-
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Tue, June 14, 2005 - 11:14 PMI'll stab BLINDLY at this, and if I'm poking somebody in the foot, eye, or stomach, by doing such, please realize that it was totally incidental to the consequence, however accidental it might appear. ;-)
Since the object moving slower than the "speed of light" has not penetrated the TIME PORTAL, it's "aging" or "time measurability" must STILL be calculable at some "relative" TIME as long as there is an "observer watching" who can measure time.
OBLIGATORY DEFINITION included:
I define TIME PORTAL as a gateway into 4th dimension where two "4-D OBJECTS" can simultaneously have the same "CO-ORDINATES" simultaneously, thus once beyond the TIME PORTAL, time is immeasurable.
-
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Wed, June 15, 2005 - 12:09 AMi assume that you define 4-d as the traditional three-dimensional euclidean space plus a time dimension, and when you say the same coordinates you mean the same 3-d coordinates. in any event, speed does not in itself unfold that 4th dimension (what you call the gateway) but only the perception along that dimension, and speeds above the speed of light make that perception uncommensurable as you well pointed out -
-
This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Faster then Light...
Wed, June 15, 2005 - 7:01 AMHmm...we are communicating splendidly: We are defining 4-D as traditional three-dimensional euclidean space plus a time dimension, and when WE REFER TO coordinates WE are referencing the SAME 3-D coordinates.
HOWEVER this is UNCLEAR: "speed does not IN itself UNFOLD that 4th dimension (what you call the gateway) but only...???...the perception along that dimension..."
Speeds above the speed of light make that perception INCOMMENSURABLE.
-
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Sat, August 19, 2006 - 4:20 AMIf two objects had the same coordinates, the conclusion is that the two objects are one and the same, not that time is immeasurable. -
-
This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Faster then Light...
Sat, August 19, 2006 - 4:47 AMthat would still be the case, even
factoring extended space. -
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Wed, August 30, 2006 - 10:14 PMokay, the singularity has the potential to dispute this claim. -
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Thu, August 31, 2006 - 6:46 PMWhere you being witty when you wrote faster then light and not faster than light?
That's a pretty subtle pun. -
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Tue, September 5, 2006 - 8:09 PMyeah, brevity is the soul of wit.
unless your a scientist or philosopher.
than it causes a lot of unnecessary confusion.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Tue, November 1, 2005 - 11:18 AMThe way I understand it, a molecule can never reach the speed of light because it has mass. Einstein showed that nothing with mass can acclerate to the speed of light because it would require an infinite amount of energy to do so. As an object gets closer to c, it's mass increases and thus requires more energy to accelerate it further. If you were referring to particles in your question, then I don't know.
-
-
-
Re: Faster then Light...
Sat, August 19, 2006 - 3:59 AMPersonally,
I don't believe in backward causation.
It's like believing in an oscillating universe
or that the universe is infinite.
-
Faster then Light...premature ejaculation ??
Tue, September 5, 2006 - 1:50 PMoh thought this was a post about a guy who was faster coming...than going !! relativily speaking that is :P