The classical light is built up by photons which are the quantum of electromagnetic radiation and are the mediators of any interaction between charged particles. Light is represented by electromagnetic radiation which in its simpler form is mathematically described by a sine or cosine wave, classically. Hence it is impossible to send true signals in faster-than-light communications.Why are the particles allowed to exceed the speed of light for other media when they are not allowed to in a vacuum? Because of the intrinsic randomness of quantum phenomena, however, one cannot control whether a given photon tunnels or not, nor can one control whether a given photon is transmitted or not at the final beam splitter. This phenomenon can be described as a ‘faster-than-light influence’ of one photon upon its twin. We have found experimentally that twin photons emitted from a common source (a down-conversion crystal) behave in a correlated fashion when they arrive at two distant interferometers. This effect was first predicted theoretically by Prof. “Second, we have found an effect related to the famous Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen phenomenon, in which two distantly separated photons can apparently influence one anothers’ behaviors at two distantly separated detectors (see “High-Visibility Interference in a Bell-Inequality Experiment for Energy and Time,” by P. The tunnel effect is so fast that it seems to occur faster than light.

Because of the uncertainty principle, the photon has a small but very real chance of appearing suddenly on the far side of the barrier, through a quantum effect (the ‘tunnel effect’) which would seem impossible according to classical physics. “First, we have discovered that photons which tunnel through a quantum barrier can apparently travel faster than light (see “Measurement of the Single-Photon Tunneling Time” by A. (The tachyon-like quasiparticle in inverted media described above is yet a third kind of faster-than-light effect.) There are actually two different kinds of ‘faster-than-light’ effects that we have found in quantum optics experiments. Steinberg in Scientific American, August 1993). “Quantum optical effects can produce a different kind of ‘faster than light’ effect (see “Faster than light?” by R.

There are strong scientific reasons to believe that such quasiparticles really exist, because Maxwell’s equations, when coupled to inverted atomic media, lead inexorably to tachyon-like solutions. ‘Laser-like media’ is a technical term referring to those media that have inverted atomic populations, the conditions prevailing inside a laser.)Īn experiment at Berkeley to detect tachyon-like quasiparticles. (That is, they exist as particle-like excitations, similar to other quasiparticles called phonons and polaritons that are found in solids.

Tachyons have never been found in experiments as real particles traveling through the vacuum, but we predict theoretically that tachyon-like objects exist as faster-than-light ‘quasiparticles’ moving through laser-like media. The name ‘tachyon’ (from the Greek ‘tachys,’ meaning swift) was coined by the late Gerald Feinberg of Columbia University. Upon losing energy, a tachyon would accelerate the faster it traveled, the less energy it would have. Just as an ordinary particle such as an electron can exist only at speeds less than that of light, so a tachyon could exist only at speeds above that of light, at which point its mass would be real and positive. The existence of the tachyon, though not experimentally established, appears consistent with the theory of relativity, which was originally thought to apply only to particles traveling at or less than the speed of light. Tachyon, hypothetical subatomic particle whose velocity always exceeds that of light. ( 1 Comment ) TACHYON A PARTICLE THAT HELPS US TO TIME TRAVEL….

Particle traveling faster than light