Friday, April 4, 2008

The Tachyon

One well-known exotic particle is the tachyon.  A tachyon is a hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light.  This odd particle seems to defy detection, and many scientists think it might not exist.  If the tachyon did exist it would defy many logical paradoxes.  The tachyon would be able to travel backwards in time, an action that is impossible by the theory of relativity.  But the theory could stay intact if the tachyon couldn't transmit information.  So the tachyon alters the physics of the Universe by itself, proposing three possibilities.  One is the easy way out, just saying that tachyons do not exist.  The second is that, although particles can, information cannot travel faster than the speed of light.  Three, the horrifying choice, is the possibility that the general theory of relativity, even approximately at an larger-than-quantum scale, is false. Scientists have proposed this particle real mass, also defying many previously believed theories, such as the fact that anything with real mass travels at subliminal (below light) speeds. Quantum physics have yet to explain this mysterious particle.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

how is it possible for a particle , may that be a tachyon to travel back in time. one can imagine going in future by travelling faster than the speed of light . but quite impossible to travel back in time . how is traveling back in time possible?