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Faster than the speed of light Was Einstein wrong? The Big Bang, the LHC and the God Particle Cormac O’Raifeartaigh (WIT) Cormac O’Raifeartaigh (WIT) Overview I The experiment What, why, how II Skepticism from theory Special relativity General relativity III Skepticism from experiment Particle experiments Astronomy Supernova observations Coda: what if..? IV Skepticism in science The OPERA experiment Beam of neutrinos at CERN Detector under Gran Sasso Distance of 732 km Time of flight 2.43 ms Highly respected group Result early by 60 nanoseconds 0.003% faster than light! Neutrinos • Suggested by Pauli (1930) • Conservation of energy • Zero charge, ‘zero’ mass • Weak interaction • Skepticism (non-physicists) Detected in 1956 Standard Model Higgs boson outstanding Neutrinos today • Three different types • Tiny mass • Dark matter? • The solar neutrino paradox Neutrino oscillation • Gran Sasso experiment Missing neutrinos • Unexpected result The OPERA experiment OPERA: the numbers Time of flight: +/- 10ns 2.43006 +/- 0.00001 ms Velocity = distance/time Δv/v = 2.5 x 10-5 or .003% Measurement of distance (GPS) 732 km +/- 20 cm (18 m?) Note: neutrinos in pulses .01 ms long (10,000 ns) Snags Not direct comparison Light does not travel through mountain Accurate measurement of distance Relies on GPS Accurate measurement of time-of-flight Relies on GPS and statistics (pulses) Relatively short distance Need to direct beam at the moon Expect: systematic error II Skepticism from theory (SR) The special theory of relativity (1905) • Laws of physics identical for observers in uniform motion • Speed of light in vacuum a universal constant Distance not absolute L(v ) L0 1 v 2 / c 2 Time not absolute t (v ) t 0 / 1 v 2 / c 2 Mass increases with velocity m(v) m0 / 1 v 2 / c 2 Reception: skepticism E = mc2 Evidence for relativity Early experiments Kaufmann, Bucherer Modern particle accelerators Length contraction Time dilation Mass increase Particle accelerators Speed limit Antimatter E = mc2 • 9 accelerators • velocity increase? K.E = 1/2mv2 m m0 2 v 1 c2 Relativity ‘skepticism’ • • • • Extraordinary concept Counter-intuitive Only observable at tremendous speeds Only observable for subatomic particles Speed of light plays role of ∞ • • • • Simple maths Time and distance calculations Personalization Confusion of discovery and justification Compare: quantum physics Dr Al Kelly ‘Einstein wrong’ The Irish Times Skepticism from theory (GR) General Relativity (1915) • Laws of physics identical for all observers • Speed of light in vacuum a universal constant • Principle of equivalence Gravity = curvature of space and time • New view of gravity • Revolution • Cosmological implications Matter warps space and time General relativity Predictions • Bending of starlight by sun • Black holes • Expanding universe • Time dilation by gravity • Geodesic effect Evidence • Eddington experiment • Astronomy • GPS • Everett experiment Breakdown at quantum scales III Skepticism from supernovas Supernova • Huge implosion of massive star • Neutrinos released • Light delayed by debris Supernova 1987a • Neutrinos detected • Ahead of light by 5 min Not by 5 years ! IV Skepticism in science Many years for new result to be accepted Must be reproducible Must fit known experiments If so • Paradigm shift • Slow, gradual process (DJ) • Consensus process Compare: accelerating universe Thomas Kuhn The OPERA viewpoint ‘Despite the large significance of the measurement reported here and the stability of the analysis, the potentially great impact of the result motivates the continuation of our studies in order to investigate possible still unknown systematic effects that could explain the observed anomaly. We deliberately do not attempt any theoretical or phenomenological interpretation of the results’ ‘Up to half of the members of the OPERA project are opposed to immediately publishing the result in a peer-reviewed journal. They do not believe any known mistakes are being hidden by other members of the group, but are worried about the significant impact to physics of the results.’ Physics World ‘Skepticism’ in the media Scientific skepticism misunderstood Attributed to conservatism Role of evidence misunderstood ‘Balanced’ debate unweighted Science journalism: news driven Climate ‘skepticism’ is not scientific Bjorn Lomborg contrarian Summary Extraordinary result Indirect measurement Contradicts theory Special and general relativity Contradicts experiment Particle experiments Astronomy experiments What if.... ? Extraordinary evidence? X Further reading: ANTIMATTER What if result stands? Extra dimensions Shortcut? Doesn’t violate relativity • • Unification theory 7 dimensions curled up? High energy Lightest particles Doesn’t contradict previous results • First evidence of string theory ?