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Faster-than-light particle claim casts doubt on Einstein's theory
Source: Agencies |
September 24, 2011, Saturday
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A STARTLING find at one of the world's foremost laboratories that a subatomic particle seemed to move faster than the speed of light has scientists around the world rethinking Albert Einstein and one of the foundations of physics.
Now they are planning further high-speed tests to see if a revolutionary shift in explaining the workings of the universe is needed - or if the European scientists made a mistake.
Researchers at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research outside Geneva, who announced the discovery on Thursday planned to detail their findings today.
If these results are confirmed, they will fundamentally change our understanding of how the world works, physicists said.
Only two other labs in the world can try to replicate the results. One is Fermilab outside Chicago, in the United States, and the other is a Japanese lab put on hold by the March tsunami and earthquake.
The only trouble is that their measuring systems aren't nearly as precise as the Europeans', said Fermilab scientist and experiments spokesman Rob Plunkett.
"This thing is so important many of the normal scientific rivalries fall by the wayside," said Plunkett.
Plunkett said he is keeping an open mind on whether Einstein's theories need an update, but he added: "It's dangerous to lay odds against Einstein. He has been tested over and over again."
Going faster than light is something that is just not supposed to happen, according to Einstein's 1905 special theory of relativity - made famous by the equation E = mc2. The speed of light - 299,792 kilometers per second - has long been considered a cosmic speed limit.
"We'd be thrilled if it's right because we love something that shakes the foundation of what we believe," said Columbia University physicist Brian Greene.
The claim is being greeted with skepticism inside and outside the European lab. "The feeling most people have is this can't be right, this can't be real," said James Gillies, a CERN spokesman.
CERN provided the particle accelerator to send neutrinos - slivers of an atom - on a breakneck 730-kilometer trip underground from Geneva to Italy. France's National Institute for Nuclear and Particle Physics Research collaborated with Italy's Ran Sass National Laboratory for the experiment.
The team reported that a neutrino beam traveled 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. Scientists calculated the margin of error at just 10 nanoseconds.
If the European findings are correct, "this would change the idea of how the universe is put together," Columbia's Greene said.
But he added: "I would bet just about everything I hold dear that this won't hold up to scrutiny."
Now they are planning further high-speed tests to see if a revolutionary shift in explaining the workings of the universe is needed - or if the European scientists made a mistake.
Researchers at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research outside Geneva, who announced the discovery on Thursday planned to detail their findings today.
If these results are confirmed, they will fundamentally change our understanding of how the world works, physicists said.
Only two other labs in the world can try to replicate the results. One is Fermilab outside Chicago, in the United States, and the other is a Japanese lab put on hold by the March tsunami and earthquake.
The only trouble is that their measuring systems aren't nearly as precise as the Europeans', said Fermilab scientist and experiments spokesman Rob Plunkett.
"This thing is so important many of the normal scientific rivalries fall by the wayside," said Plunkett.
Plunkett said he is keeping an open mind on whether Einstein's theories need an update, but he added: "It's dangerous to lay odds against Einstein. He has been tested over and over again."
Going faster than light is something that is just not supposed to happen, according to Einstein's 1905 special theory of relativity - made famous by the equation E = mc2. The speed of light - 299,792 kilometers per second - has long been considered a cosmic speed limit.
"We'd be thrilled if it's right because we love something that shakes the foundation of what we believe," said Columbia University physicist Brian Greene.
The claim is being greeted with skepticism inside and outside the European lab. "The feeling most people have is this can't be right, this can't be real," said James Gillies, a CERN spokesman.
CERN provided the particle accelerator to send neutrinos - slivers of an atom - on a breakneck 730-kilometer trip underground from Geneva to Italy. France's National Institute for Nuclear and Particle Physics Research collaborated with Italy's Ran Sass National Laboratory for the experiment.
The team reported that a neutrino beam traveled 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light. Scientists calculated the margin of error at just 10 nanoseconds.
If the European findings are correct, "this would change the idea of how the universe is put together," Columbia's Greene said.
But he added: "I would bet just about everything I hold dear that this won't hold up to scrutiny."
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