Quote:
Originally posted by gigi@Jan 16 2003, 01:24 PM
If you go faster than that speed you will actually start going backwards in time.
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That part is not correct. If something travels faster than the speed of light the time dilation becomes imaginary, not negative. That has no meaning. The equation is not meant to handle speeds greater than c.
There is another solution to the equations where objects can ONLY go faster than the speed of light (never slower). The tachyon particle has been proposed that might travel faster than the speed of light but not slower. No one has found one. It is not necessarily true that there is one. It's just that it is a correct mathematical solution. This solution is analogous to the square root of 4. There are two solutions, 2 and -2. You might have a problem where the answer only makes sense as +2 though.
Special relativity tells us that as one approaches the speed of light one needs more and more energy to consider to accelerate. For an object with mass to reach the speed of light barrier requires more energy than exists in the entire Universe.
The theory of special relativity is actually very simple and anyone with a high school math background - just a little algebra acually - can play with the equations. General relativity though is an entirely different beast.
Last edited by Colin at Jan 16 2003, 01:48 PM