Faster than light?

1992/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika

Is it possible to send messages faster than light?

Two American researchers say yes. If this were true, one of Einstein's foundations of physics and relativity theory would be suspended.

Light is a type of wave that when moving in vacuum has a speed of 300,000 km/s. This speed remains constant in homogeneous environments, i.e. it does not increase or decrease. Moreover, this value is an absolute and insurmountable limit. Therefore, there are no physical objects that can exceed that speed. This property has been and is the most basic principle within the theory of relativity established by Einstein. This is not only true at the speed of light, but also at any other electromagnetic wave.

However, a series of waves has not only one speed, but two. The first is beam speed. At this speed the signal energy and the information it contains moves. The second is the “phase speed”, with greater difficulty of understanding. What circulates with the phase is a wave characteristic, but it is nothing material or physical.

The phase speed can exceed 300,000 km/s and this does not go against the theory of relativity, since it is not energy. At this point we must take into account what researchers Koryu Ishü and Georges Giakos of the University of Wisconsin said: a signal, including its energy, can be transmitted to more than 300,000 km/s.

For this they have made a very special essay. A high-frequency generator emits a series of waves. Next to the generator shaft is a detector. This detector records something physical that circulates at a phase speed (therefore higher than that of light). Therefore, should we review the theory of relativity?

Although this news can revolutionize the world of physics, scientists have barely said anything. The works of Ishü and Giakos began to be published in 1989 and have always been difficult to understand.

But someone will have to say something.