newfangled measurements from an experiment near the top of an extinct Mexican vent have placed a stringent new limit on whether light can exceed the universe ’s well - know top speed .
Physicists have craft theory that do a good line explaining much of the universe — but these theories fail when it comes to many of the extreme , such as how affair interact on the surface of a disastrous gob or right after the Big Bang . examine the limits of Albert Einstein ’s possibility so as to develop a broader theory to incorporate these extremes has become an entire field of physic . But with every trial , modern physics theories fail to crouch . A new experiment was perhaps their most extreme challenge yet .
“ My catgut reaction was , I ’m stunned , ” Pat Harding , one of the study authors and an astrophysicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory say Gizmodo . This new inquiry extend the compass of Einstein ’s celebrated theories to energies impossible to instantly get at on Earth or in space .
HAWC’s water tanks dotting the side of the Sierra Negra.Photo: Ryan F. Mandelbaum
Why Do Physicists Keep line up New States of Matter ?
Some physicists have sample to explain the universe ’s mysteries with melodic theme ( string theory , for model ) that develop modest deviations from the well - established theories . These deviation only appear for extreme cases , like ultra - high - Energy Department particle . physicist were looking for such a deviation here , to see if the creation desecrate a well - established feature called Lorentz invariableness for energetic - enough photons . Lorentz invariability state that the laws of physics are the same for everyone who is stationary ( disregarding of their orientation course in space ) or in constant motion ( with a numerical rule to convert between the stationary and moving frames ) . A consequence of this symmetry is a constant note value of the fastness of a loose particle in a vacuum , which is slightly under 300 million meters per second .
A violation of this Lorentz invariance could cause exceedingly high - energy luminance to travel quicker or slower than this top speed , and such violations could have discernible impacts . These mote would also decay or split up and fail to get hold of Earth . This would come along as a drop - off in the identification number of photon strike an experiment at high - enough energies . So physicists at the eminent - Altitude Water Cherenkov ( HAWC ) observatory in Mexico went searching for the key signature .
HAWC consists of 100 of large water tank model near the top the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico . you may learn more about HAWC fromour sojourn there , but basically , high - vigour corpuscle interact with the atmosphere , create a shower of particles that cause small flashes when they interact with the water . Photomultiplier tubes turn these photoflash into a sign , and scientists can reconstruct what particle make the flash based on which vats they produced a signaling in .
Combined with ripe method to depend the vim of incoming photon , the data was clear : There was no drop curtain - off . HAWC continued to see photons from astrophysical sources with energies as high as 285 TeV , over 40 time in high spirits than one particle beam of the Large Hadron Collider , the most hefty corpuscle physics experimentation on Earth . The bearing of these gamma ray rules out firm - than - lightness travel for these highest - muscularity photons . And , according to physicist Humberto Martínez - Huerta at the University of São Paulo , through mathematical workplace , this also increases the minimum potential energy scale at which such a Lorentz invariance - violating theory can live by a hundred multiplication . A team led by scientist at Michigan State University worked to interpret Martínez - Huerta ’s employment into an data-based measurement .
Basically , even mindbogglingly up-and-coming wakeful molecule still move around at the swiftness of light , which we know because an experimentation on Earth can appraise them . This observation constrains what kinds of extension physicists can tack onto their present - day theories when trying to solve their outstanding problems , concord tothe paperpublished in Physical Review Letters .
But the observation does n’t stiffen every kind of extension to Einstein ’s theory , Martínez - Huerta explicate . Perhaps violations to Lorentz invariance can appear in other particle , or perhaps they might cause some photons to travel deadening than the speed of light . “ My theoretical colleagues are cagy and subtle , ” James Linnemann , professor at Michigan State University , severalize Gizmodo . “ So this move the goal post by a factor of a hundred . It constrains the distance in which such theories can be . ”
One physicist not take in the subject area , Ralf Lehnert at Indiana University , state Gizmodo that the work was solid . He reiterate that this is just one way to evaluate Lorentz invariance violations . But , he said , this study contribute todozens upon dozensof other tests seeking evidence of such trespass , none of which have yet found any .
Scientists plan on pass the search , as HAWC ’s scientist tally more vats of H2O and increase the experiment ’s sensitivity . But once again , Einstein ’s possibility of relativity turn down to budge , even for the most extreme point of cases .
This story has been updated with a quote from James Linnemann and to point out that the analysis was lead by scientists at Michigan State University .
AstrophysicsSciencespecial relativity
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