Volume 2 — Issue 2
The SSC’s Official Science Newspaper
uwoscience.ca/thecurrent
PHYSICS AND MATH
CERN’s super-fast neutrinos challenge our understanding of reality Jesse Tahirali
Current Contributor Faster than a speeding photon, more powerful than a particle from a locomotive, able to leap Einstein’s theory of relativity in a single bound—the superluminal neutrino. On September 22, 2011, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (known internationally as CERN) made an announcement that sent the scientific community into a particle physics frenzy. They modestly announced to the world that they had measured particles moving faster than the speed of light. “This result comes as a complete surprise,” Antonio Ereditato, spokesperson for the project responsible for the discovery, said in a press release. “After many months of studies and cross-checks, we have not found any instrumental effect that could explain the result of the measurement.” Many months of checking for errors is necessary in this situation—saying you’ve observed some-
thing moving faster than the speed of light is, without exaggeration, one of the most audacious claims possible. “If correct, it would be a breakthrough. It would be very important,” says Dr. Vladimir Miransky, an applied mathematics professor at Western who researches elementary particle physics. “This limit that nothing could move faster than light is a very bold conse-
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“This limit that nothing could move faster than light is a very bold consequence of Einstein’s theory of relativity, and it would imply this theory is wrong.”
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- Dr. Vladimir Miransky
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Image Courtesy of CERN
quence of Einstein’s theory of relativity, and it would imply this theory is wrong.” Einstein’s theories have been rigorously tested, and this discovery is planted firmly outside of the reality we’ve constructed based on the concept of relativity. And like
any scientific discovery, this result will be subject to heavy skepticism. “First of all, what is important is that one should check whether this conclusion is correct or not. A lot of papers appear every day discussing this work, and many papers criticize their conclusions,” explains Miransky. “The variation in the speed of light is very small,” he continues. “It’s what is called a very precise experiment. There is a danger that there is some kind of inner error, and it’s not easy to immediately clarify where it is.” If these results do stand up to the impossible test, the implications would be drastic. Although the universe itself would remain intact, our understanding of reality’s rules would have to be overhauled. Perhaps not immediately, but practical application of faster-than-light speeds would almost certainly follow. “Experiments like this lead to very big discoveries, including atomic bombs,” Miransky says, referencing the enormous consequences that a more complete understanding of the atom had on human life. It will likely be a long time before our textbooks have to be updated, but the breaking of the light speed barrier would lead to a rewrite of physics literature—and these new editions would serve a purpose beyond squeezing cash from student pockets. Miransky believes that this discovery would be more important than the observation of the Higgs Boson, one of CERN’s most important and ambitious goals. Proving the existence of the Higgs Boson—which has been dubbed the “God particle”—would provide insight into the nature of mass, and give weight to the idea of fundamental force unification. These tiny neutrinos could be remembered as one of the biggest discoveries of the century. But like any seeker of truth, Miransky has a healthy amount of doubt. “I’m a bit skeptical, but on the other hand, I would not say that I believe it’s wrong. It’s quite interesting— but I believe there is quite a big probability that this conclusion is incorrect.”
The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. Its contents do not reflect the opinion of the University Students’ Council of the University of Western Ontario (“USC”). The USC assumes no responsibility or liability for any error, inaccuracy, omission or comment contained in this publication or for any use that may be made of such information by the reader.