RAMAN Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 i just want to know about tachyons as a layman right from the beginning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Have you checked the wiki? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachyon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAMAN Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 Is it possible that is something faster than light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Is it possible that is something faster than light It is completely consistent with special relativity to have a particle that travels faster than light. However, if such a particle i.e. a tachyon exists it cannot be slowed down to the speed of light or below. In quantum field theory tachyons are usually unstable and decay into non-tachyonic states. So, I would say it is unlikely that tachyons are physical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timo Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 It is completely consistent with special relativity to have a particle that travels faster than light. Wouldn't tachyons seem like an obvious way to break causality (unless you put the additional constraint that tachyons do not interact with anything )? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyrisch Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Wouldn't tachyons seem like an obvious way to break causality (unless you put the additional constraint that tachyons do not interact with anything )? I don't think so, because they move in a linear path through time, just backwards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajb Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 Wouldn't tachyons seem like an obvious way to break causality (unless you put the additional constraint that tachyons do not interact with anything )? Is the maximal speed of light a consequence of causality or is causality a consequence of the maximal speed of light? Either way, yes causality would need to be examined very carefully if tachyons exist. It looks like relativity by itself does not rule them out, but QFT does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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