Re: [Utah-astronomy] Faster than the Speed of Light
Bill said, ''The whole 'nothing can travel faster than light' thing is addressing the speed at which stuff can travel /through/ space time. There is no rule against space time expanding or contracting faster than light . . .'' The effect that you are talking about is superluminal recessional velocities, and it applies generally to galaxies that have a redshift greater than z=3. Galaxies with a redshift greater than 3 have redshifts that indicate that they are traveling away from us as greater than light speed, and such redshifts are an indicator of expansion of the universe on a cosmological scale. However, measured superluminal redshifts are observed only beginning at cosmological distances of z=3 or about 6 or 7 Giga light-years from Earth. The distances involved in the CERN experiment are on a terresterial scale, and their experiment does not involve cosmological expansion of the space underneath the experiment as a significant factor. Good question, though. Clear Skies _- Kurt
And of course the other thing that can happen is tunneling through another directional dimension. It has been known for years that some sub atomic particles apparently tunnel, disappearing at point a and reappearing at point b within a time span that if they had traveled that distance through our space time, they would have had to exceed the speed of light. I'm not certain that it is known for sure that neutrinos can't either tunnel or warp space time on a small scale such that the actual distance they went would have been less than the 7,000 km, as measured through our 3 directional dimensions. On 9/25/2011 1:26 PM, Canopus56 wrote:
Bill said, ''The whole 'nothing can travel faster than light' thing is addressing the speed at which stuff can travel /through/ space time. There is no rule against space time expanding or contracting faster than light . . .''
The effect that you are talking about is superluminal recessional velocities, and it applies generally to galaxies that have a redshift greater than z=3. Galaxies with a redshift greater than 3 have redshifts that indicate that they are traveling away from us as greater than light speed, and such redshifts are an indicator of expansion of the universe on a cosmological scale. However, measured superluminal redshifts are observed only beginning at cosmological distances of z=3 or about 6 or 7 Giga light-years from Earth.
The distances involved in the CERN experiment are on a terresterial scale, and their experiment does not involve cosmological expansion of the space underneath the experiment as a significant factor.
Good question, though.
Clear Skies _- Kurt
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Canopus56 -
William Lockman