The new theory shows what the universe would look like if the speed of light were broken Science and Ecology | Dr..

According to physics, nothing can be faster than light. Among other things, because if you accelerate further, problems of time reversal arise, which change notions of causality. However, a new study, conducted by scientists from the University of Warsaw, Poland, and the National University of Singapore, suggests that objects may be able to move faster than the speed of light without completely destroying the existing laws of physics, implying an extension of the limits of relativity.

Thus, the new theory – which could open the way for a new theory – called “extension of special relativity” combines three dimensions of time with one spatial dimension (“space-time 1 + 3”), instead of the three spatial and temporal dimensions. dimension to which we are accustomed.

According to the University of Warsaw press release, At faster-than-light speeds, we would see not only phenomena that occur spontaneously, with no identifiable cause, but also particles traveling simultaneously on multiple paths.

In addition, the very concept of time would be completely transformed, so that the transcendental world – faster than the speed of light – must be characterized by three dimensions of time and one space, and must be described in the familiar language of field theory.

Extended special relativity

new studio Published in the journal Classical and quantitative gravity It builds on previous work on these super-theoretical monitors by some of the researchers on the project.

The hyperbright insights from the new work could then help link quantum mechanics with Einstein’s special theory of relativity, two branches of physics that currently can’t be reconciled into one comprehensive theory that describes gravity in the same way we explain other forces.

As shown science alert, Within this framework, particles can no longer be modeled as point objects, as in the more mundane view of a three-dimensional universe (as well as time). Thus, to understand what observers can see and the behavior of a superluminous particle, it is necessary to turn to the field theories underpinning quantum physics.

“There is no fundamental reason why observers moving relative to the described physical systems with speeds greater than light should not submit to them,” explained physicist Andrzej Dragan of the University of Warsaw.

The object will “experience” several different timescales

The research team’s new model describes a superluminous object as a particle that expands like a bubble through space, allowing it to “experience” several different timescales in the process.

However, the speed of light in a vacuum will remain constant even for observers advancing faster than it,” explains the report from science alert, “And it maintains one of Einstein’s fundamental principles, a principle that has hitherto been thought of only in relation to observers traveling slower than the speed of light (like all of us),” adds the moderator.

“A feat that deserves a Nobel Prize”

The researchers intend to do more work to better understand the implications of their spatiotemporal 1 + 3 model, which, while answering many questions, should raise some new ones.

However, if the physicists are right, then all particles in the universe would have unusual properties in extended special relativity.

“The abstract experimental discovery of a new fundamental particle is a Nobel Prize-worthy achievement that can be achieved in a large research team using the latest experimental techniques,” explains physicist Krzysztof Turzyński from the University of Warsaw.

“However, we hope to apply our results to a better understanding of the spontaneous symmetry breaking phenomenon associated with the mass of the Higgs particle and other Standard Model particles, especially in the early universe.”

Edited by Felipe Espinosa Wang.