CERN reports that they may have observed particles called neutrinos travelling at a speed greater than that of light in a vaccuum, contrary to the previously held view that nothing could travel faster. If it is found to be true, scientists will have to rethink the fundamental principles of physics.
Because speed is determined by two quantities, one being distance covered, one aspect of nature that might be rethought is the time taken by the particle. It has ben long assumed that time came into being when the universe we live in was created from nothing and most scientists also assume that time is uni-dimensional. But what if it isn't? What if time is multi-dimensional? What time do humans experience?
Imagine that time has three dimensions, +t, -t, it where 'i' is the square root of minus one. If it is assumed we can represent this in a graph as shown using the usual Cartesian coordinates.
To find the length of the observed line in terms of t we use the normal geometric construction:
T = √ t² + (-t)² + i²t²
What does this mean?
For humans, perhaps we live in three dimensional time, where the numerical measure is equal in all.
Therefore: T = √t² + t² - t² = t.
In other words, what we observe is the same as the time originally imagined. But what if neutrinos live in a different time? What if we can identify a time line such that:-
T < t
It might be that there is no -t component and the complex term has a smaller numerical coefficient. We might have something like this:-
T = √t² + 0 - θt² where 0 < θ < 1
It may be that this time, is therefore less than that taken by light to cover the same distance in a vacuum.That is to say it is faster.
By measuring the observed value of the speed of neutrinos it may be possible to prove or disprove this theory.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
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