Faster-Than-Light Particle

Fits With Special Theory of

Relativity, Physicists Say
Tachyons are a hypothetical particle generally thought to be incongruous
with Einstein's theory.

By Isaac Schultz
Updated July 13, 2024 | Comments (48)

The hypothetical faster-than-light particle known as the tachyon may marry

with the special theory of relativity, according to a team of physicists, making
its existence more plausible.

What the hell is a tachyon?

Tachyons are a type of hypothetical particle, meaning their existence remains

a matter of speculation. The tachyon is also proposed to be superliminal,
meaning it always travels faster than light. A hypothetical, superliminal
particle… we pray that Lin-Manuel Miranda never makes a musical about
exotic physics.

There is no evidence that tachyons exist, as is the case with plenty of particles
proposed to make up our universe. Some physicists believe tachyons exist
because they would offer solutions to certain problems in particle physics and
field theories. But the recent team’s research, published this week in Physical
:
 Review D, claims that previous doubts of tachyons’ plausibility were
unfounded.

Special relativity and the limit of lightspeed

In 1905, Einstein produced his theory of special relativity, which describes the
relationship between space and time (E=mc2—sound familiar?). A
fundamental part of the theory holds that the speed of light can be
approached, but not reached, by material objects.

Unlike other hypothetical particles such as axions and dark photons—both

types of dark matter candidates which are not proven to exist—there are
several reasons why tachyons may not exist. For one, according to a University
of Warsaw release, the ground state of the tachyon field was thought to be
unstable. Additionally, depending on the observer’s position, a different
number of particles would be observed, and lastly, the particles’ energy could
assume negative values. In the recent work, the team posit that the issues with
the particle could be resolved by knowing both the initial and final states of
the system. In that case, the “tachyon theory became mathematically
consistent,” the release stated.

The new research also conjures up “a new kind of quantum entanglement”

that mixes past and future, the university release stated, which does not exist
in conventional particle theory. “The idea that the future can influence the
present instead of the present determining the future is not new in physics,”
said Andrzej Dragan, a physicist at the University of Warsaw and co-author of
the paper, in the release. “However, until now, this type of view has at best
been an unorthodox interpretation of certain quantum phenomena, and this
time we were forced to this conclusion by the theory itself.”
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 A animation showing how a particle moving faster than light will only be visible after it’s already passed. © Gif:
Tx Alien / Wikimedia Commons

But nothing can move faster than light…right?

The short answer is no, nothing can exceed the speed of light: 983,571,056
feet per second, or 299,792,458 meters per second. The longer answer is that
it’s complicated; for example, quasiparticles created by clouds of electrons act
as if they travel faster than light, though they do not.

And while we’re musing on hypotheticals: If some other intelligent beings in

the universe have figured out how to travel faster than light, evidence of their
triumph may be detectable in the gravitational ripples produced by their
technology, as proposed by a recent team of physicists.

Like the tachyon itself, the work is very speculative. But such is the domain of
these hypothetical particles. Researching stuff that moves faster than light was
always going to require some imagination.
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