[PhilPhys] Particles break light-speed limit

[Colin Bruce]

This reminds me vividly of claims a decade or two ago that quantum tunneling could send information ‘faster than light’. None stood up to scrutiny, usual cause was confusing the notional 'group velocity' of a wave packet with the speed at which a signal can be transmitted.
Analogy for the present case: the wave train describing the neutrinos is a long surfboard, with a guy in a red suit at the front and one in a blue suit at the back. As the board travels over the waves, not exceeding lightspeed, the red and blue guy are alternately visible (never both together). So at times the guy appears to change colour and leap forward impossibly fast. But you cannot send an instant signal ‘from the back to the front’ of the surfboard or wavetrain, any more than you can use EPR correlations to signal.
This particular claim will likely come down to inadequate definition of the time at which the 'original neutrinos' were deemed to be emitted.


Colin

 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://listbox.elte.hu/mailman/private/philphys/attachments/20110923/9cac4960/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
PhilPhys - Philosophy of Physics Mail Group
Help & Archives: http://phil.elte.hu/PhilPhys