Faster than Light?

Precise experimental  results questioning Einstein’s work have  found very few takers, so far

A day before the official announcement from CERN, the scientific world was already abuzz with reports of experimental work that showed neutrinos—one of the most elusive of elementary particles—had exceeded the speed of light over a distance of 730 km, arriving 60 billionth of a second faster than a beam of light travelling the same distance. If true, this was a fundamental refutation of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, which posited the speed of light as a fundamental limit on how fast anything could travel.

The CERN press note was precise, stating the measurements were ‘at odds with well-established laws of nature, though science frequently progresses by overthrowing established paradigms. For this reason, many searches have been made for deviations from Einstein’s theory of relativity, so far not finding any such evidence. The strong constraints arising from these observations makes an interpretation of the OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus) measurement in terms of modification of Einstein’s theory unlikely, and give further strong reason to seek new independent measurements.’

The initial reaction by scientists the world over was one of disbelief. Such a possibility would require a complete relook at the theoretical basis of much of modern physics. After all, while the results do not imply time travel is possible, they do seem to suggest it may be possible to send signals back into the past.

University of Surrey’s Jim al- Khalili promised to eat his boxers on live TV if the results held up. Australian physicist John P Costella blogged that the results were a statistical mistake. But within a few days, it is becoming clear that the work by CERN is not easily dismissed. Costella has already published a retraction, where he has said, ‘The ‘blunder’, the ‘embarrassing gaffe’, is mine and mine alone. I am happy to wear that ignominy: the OPERA result—if its estimates for systematic errors withstand scrutiny, and if it is subsequently confirmed in future experiments—would arguably be the most important discovery in physics in almost a century.’ Now it seems the results are getting the serious scrutiny that is the normal business of science.

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Hartosh Singh Bal