![]() ![]() The number of cosmic ray particles falling in eachĮnergy interval is referred to as the cosmic ray spectrum. Have been seen with 100 million times greater energy than man has produced. No such proton disintegrations have ever been seen at the highest energiesīut, in 1993 Alan Kostelecky wondered what about nature's own particle accelerators that produce the cosmic rays, some of which (antiparticle of the electron) and neutrino. The proton would disintegrate into three particles: neutron, positron Normally stable particles such as the proton should disintegrate if traveling For example, one implication of neutrinos being tachyons is that Problem is that if neutrinos do have a speed in excess of light, the excess is miniscule - perhaps only 0.00006 miles per hour.īut, indirect tests of the hypothesis may be feasible. Tests have proven inconclusive based on measurements of neutrinos reaching Earth in 1987 from a supernova in a nearby galaxy. The direct approach to test this idea would be to measure the speed of neutrinos and see if it exceeds that of light. Really are tachyons, this would be their biggest surprise of all. Last year, for example, it was shown that one or more of the three types of neutrinos has a small but nonzero mass. Over the years, neutrinos, which are produced in nuclear reactions such as those inside the sun, have been full of surprises. In fact, in 1985 Alan Chodos, Avi Hauser, and Alan Kostelecky suggested that the elusive neutrino might actually be a tachyon. Physicists have held out hope that tachyons might actually exist -possibly disguised as some other known particle. Even worse,Īccording to some physicists, if tachyons exist, they could be used to send messages back in time. Skepticism is understandable, since nearly all experiments searching for tachyons have so far turned up negative. Interestingly, such faster-than-light particles seem to be required by current 12 dimensional theories developedīy physicists to unify all the forces of nature.Īsk most physicists about tachyons, however, and you'll be told that they belong strictly in the realm of science fiction. The evidence, published in several articles in the Physical Review Dĭuring June and October 1999 consists of an explanation of certain properties of the high energy cosmic rays bombarding theĮarth from space. Proposed in 1962 by Bilaniuk, Deshpande, and Sudarshan. ![]() Robert Ehrlich, a George Mason University professor of physics,Ĭlaims to have possible experimental evidence for the existence of tachyons, hypothetical faster-than-light subatomic particles first ![]()
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