Physicists witnessed the needle of darkness traveling faster than the speed of light without violating the theory of relativity

For the first time, researchers have discovered that voids in the sky are moving faster than the speed of light. And they jumped the speed limit of the universe without breaking the theory of relativity.

Recent studies have shown void acceleration. The researchers used recent advances in ultrafast electron microscopy to measure the voids of phonon-polariton waves zooming within thin flakes of boron nitride. Phonon polaritons are quasiparticles formed from photons (quantized light) combined with minute vibrations, and act like a combination of light and sound waves.

Waves are often visualized as a single wavy line, but in many applications you may get a better idea of ​​what’s going on if you imagine the wave as a lake. There are many waves and ripples in the lake, which interfere with each other. When waves interact when they are at their maximum height, they combine to produce even higher waves. But when they come into contact when they are at their lowest, a deeper trough forms than on their own.

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In some cases, the waves cancel each other out, creating a point where the wave magnitude becomes zero. In a lake, this results in the formation of a temporary vortex (vortex) that moves around a point in the sky, also called a singularity. These singularities are found throughout nature and mathematics, and have been theorized since the 1970s to travel faster than the speed of light in some cases, according to a recent statement from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

beyond the limits

Einstein’s special theory of relativity states that the speed of light in a vacuum — 299,792,458 meters per second, or about 186,000 miles per second — is the fastest speed at which information, matter, and energy can travel through space. So how does a singularity travel faster than the speed of light? A singularity is an empty point, so it contains no information, matter, or energy. Since they are small cavities, they do not have to obey the speed limits of the universe.

These voids not only exceed the speed of light, they also exceed the speed of light at breakneck speeds. When two singularities encounter each other, they can accelerate exponentially in each other’s direction until their velocities approach infinity just before they cancel each other out. However, the faster the speed, the harder it is to observe. A recent study published in the journal Nature on March 25 shows that researchers are doing just that.

“Our discovery reveals a universal law of nature common to all types of waves, from sound waves and fluid flows to complex systems like superconductors,” Ido Kaminar, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and a member of the research team, said in a statement.

The findings apply to more than just small spirals. Null points behave well like particles, so scientists can study them to better understand particle interactions. To do this, researchers need to know where the comparison breaks down. The new study shows that the need for Void’s velocity is the point at which the singularity stops behaving like a particle, since particles obey the cosmic speed limit that Void ignores.

Additionally, the team’s new technique for observing things that are very small and very fast could shed light on previously unexplored areas across multiple scientific disciplines.

“We believe that these innovative microscopy techniques will enable the study of hidden processes in physics, chemistry and biology, revealing for the first time how nature behaves in its fastest and most elusive moments,” Kamina added.