All articles tagged with #faster than light
Researchers say a wave’s energy peak can reach a detector before the pulse that carries it through interference between a direct path and a reflected path. This can make the energy seem to travel faster than light, but information remains limited to the direct path’s speed, preserving relativity. The analysis is theoretical, based on acoustic and optical models, with no lab confirmation yet.
Physicists tracked dark points inside a beam of light—optical phase singularities—moving through a wave field at speeds that can exceed light in vacuum. The team used hyperbolic phonon-polaritons in hexagonal boron nitride and ultrafast electron microscopy to observe creation, motion, and annihilation of these vortices in real time, finding that although their velocities appear superluminal, no mass, energy, or information travels faster than light, preserving relativity. The findings provide new tools to map nanoscale dynamics and study topological phenomena across wave systems.
This week’s science roundup covers the first observation of singularities in combined light and sound waves traveling faster than light, the discovery of quantum entanglement between moving atoms, ongoing debates about the universe’s expansion and a seven‑dimensional twist to Hawking’s information paradox, new evidence that natural selection has continued shaping West Eurasians over the last 10,000 years (traits like lighter skin and red hair), and reports that some polar bears are adapting to melting habitats by getting fatter, highlighting a broad mix of physics, cosmology, evolution, and wildlife research.
An international team of physicists has proposed that tachyons, hypothetical particles that travel faster than light, could be compatible with Einstein's special theory of relativity. Their research suggests that incorporating both the initial and final states of a system into calculations resolves previous theoretical challenges, potentially allowing tachyons to exist and offering new insights into quantum theory and the formation of matter.