# Particles faster than light, for real... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2001, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particles-faster-than-light-for-real/91110 "2001-11-02T12:49:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particles-faster-than-light-for-real/91110/21 "2001-11-04T06:07:02Z")
O.K. I think I understand what **Chronos** said and how it relates to the OP. However, the lead in, **Particles faster than light, for real** seems to be saying “Is it possible for anything to go faster than light?” Then **Imaginary** comes up with his postulation about light slowing down and being passed up by some particle. In regard to something going faster than light, I’m of the understanding that there is no reason to think there aren’t particles going faster than light, just that they can’t go the speed of light. Also that no information can be passed from one side to the other. I’ll even throw out the idea I heard that if I was on the other side I would think that y’all were going faster than the speed of light. Have I stuck my neck out far enough? ---
**Author:** ![Kaje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kaje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaje)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particles-faster-than-light-for-real/91110/22 "2001-11-04T06:24:37Z")
So with the notion of cerenkov radiation and the sonic boom analogy with particles travelling faster than the local speed of photons… What sort of consequences would this have for particles travelling through light that slowed way down? Like those guys at [harvard](http://www.news.harvard.edu/science/current_stories/18.Feb.99/light.html) who slowed it down to 38 mph and eventually (I remember reading it in nature) brought it to a complete halt. Does the vast difference in speeds make the effect of the passing particle any more profound? or less so? Obviously it didn’t blow up the physics lab or permanently blind the researchers… Anything interesting? When I started reading this thread I thought it was one of those “star wars fan debating star trek fan on invented astrophysics” things… then got a little embarassed when there seemed to be actual science behind the bizarre stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particles-faster-than-light-for-real/91110/23 "2001-11-04T14:54:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Imaginary \* > \*\*O’well I like their theory better so I’ll email them the question. \*\* You mean to say that it is more plausible in your opinion, and _not_ that you are subscribing to theories based on some aesthetic assessment, correct? ---
**Author:** ![DaveW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DaveW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveW)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particles-faster-than-light-for-real/91110/24 "2001-11-05T16:48:58Z")
**kniz** wrote: > [@](#): > > In regard to something going faster than light, I’m of the understanding that there is no reason to think there aren’t particles going faster than light, just that they can’t go the speed of light. Also that no information can be passed from one side to the other. I’ll even throw out the idea I heard that if I was on the other side I would think that y’all were going faster than the speed of light. Well, no things get tricky if you plug in a value larger than c into the equation for finding gamma, which governs apparent length and clock speed, as well as mass. _At_ c, the equation forces you to divide by 0. _Above_ c, you’re forced to take the square root of a negative number. For sci-fi, that’s fine - fiction is full of imaginary numbers, anyway. (Bwahahaha! I kill me.) **Kaje** wrote: > [@](#): > > So with the notion of cerenkov radiation and the sonic boom analogy with particles travelling faster than the local speed of photons… What sort of consequences would this have for particles travelling through light that slowed way down? Like those guys at harvard who slowed it down to 38 mph and eventually (I remember reading it in nature) brought it to a complete halt. Does the vast difference in speeds make the effect of the passing particle any more profound? or less so? Obviously it didn’t blow up the physics lab or permanently blind the researchers… Anything interesting? I didn’t see the Nature article, but did read [Hau’s article](http://www.sciam.com/2001/0701issue/0701hau.html) in Scientific American. The [resulting letters](http://www.sciam.com/2001/1101issue/1101letters.html) are informative, too, Hau’s response stating that all the individual photons in the experiments are actually moving at close to the speed of light in a vacuum, anyway. So, in that regard, no nothing interesting. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particles-faster-than-light-for-real/91110/25 "2001-11-05T17:52:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*\*kniz \*\* > In regard to something going faster than light, I’m of the understanding that there is no reason to think there aren’t particles going faster than light, just that they can’t go the speed of light. Also that no information can be passed from one side to the other. I’ll even throw out the idea I heard that if I was on the other side I would think that y’all were going faster than the speed of light. If no information can be passed to or from tachyons, then in what sense do they exist? Postulating unovservable is an unnecessary complication. If you were going faster than light and could receive no information from me, why would you assume that I even exist? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2001, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particles-faster-than-light-for-real/91110/26 "2001-11-05T18:14:54Z")
If c is the speed of light, then anything faster than c is SDMB members jumping all over someone who has questioned Einstein. Therefore, only SDMBers are faster than the speed of light. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/particles-faster-than-light-for-real/91110.md?page=1)