Discover tachyons, particles faster than the speed of light

There appears to be an absolute constant as the fundamental limit of nature in the universe as we know it: the speed of light. This statement comes from an assumption in Einstein’s theory of special relativity that results in the impossibility of anything traveling faster than light in a vacuum, an impressive speed of 299,792,458 meters per second.

This limit arises because as any object with mass accelerates towards the speed of light, the energy required to continue accelerating increases exponentially, ultimately requiring energy. It takes an infinite amount of energy to reach this speed..

So not only is light incredibly fast, it also appears to be the upper limit allowed for any causal interaction in the cosmos, defining the limits of what is possible for the movement of matter and the transfer of information. What if there was a particle that could move faster than light?

What is Tachyon?

If real, this particle would not move “in” time, but rather against it, challenging the laws of physics as we know them and forcing the construction of new theoretical models. This hypothetical particle is called a tachyon. and the mere idea of ​​its existence completely challenges the scientific understanding of the nature of time, space, and matter.

The idea of ​​tachyons emerged in 1967, when physicist Gerald Feinberg proposed the existence of tachyons by discovering certain solutions to the equations of special relativity. Feinberg noted that although special relativity states that nothing can exceed the speed of light, particles that begin to exist at speeds faster than the speed of light are not explicitly prohibited anyway.

Instead of accelerating beyond the speed of light, the physicist tachyons will always be in a state beyond this limit.

Tachyons are particles with exotic properties: if they existed, they would have an imaginary mass; a worrying concept, but one that refers to the idea that the energy equation of special relativity, E² =m²w⁴ +p²w² When applied to particles faster than light, it will result in values ​​that defy our physical intuition.

In other words, the equation allows solutions in which particles move faster than light but have properties so strange that their existence seems completely fictional.

One of the most interesting properties of tachyons is that the more energy they lose, the faster they move. This is the opposite of what we observe for ordinary particles. Therefore, tachyons can never “slow down” to speeds slower than light.

one of them The biggest concern about the existence of tachyons is that they can violate causality, that is, a cause always precedes the effect.. If something can move faster than light, this means that in some frame of reference that object can be seen to move backwards in time.

This would lead to disturbing paradoxes: Imagine being able to send a message using tachyons. Depending on the observer’s perspective, this message may reach its destination before it is sent, creating a paradoxical cycle of cause and effect.. Such problems make tachyons highly controversial in theoretical physics.

However, some physicists argue that if tachyons exist, they may not interact with ordinary matter, so these causality paradoxes would not be a real problem.

Unfortunately, testing for the existence of tachyons poses enormous practical difficulties. Detecting faster-than-light particles not only challenges our current technologies, it also challenges our fundamental understanding of space-time.

No direct evidence of tachyons has been observed in experiments so far. Although there are occasional rumors of anomalous signals – such as the controversial OPERA experiment in 2011. Proposed (later rejected) possible detection of faster-than-light neutrinos – revealed, none confirmed.

This means that tachyons remain one of the intriguing speculations in modern physics and will continue to feature in the world of theoretical ideas and science fiction until experiments or new models confirm or disprove their existence.