Superluminal speeds and travels to the past in a screen with time delays

Authors

  • Sebastián Arroyo
  • Damián Zanette

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55767/2451.6007.v28.n2.15815

Keywords:

Superluminal motion, Relativity, Time travelling, Image processing

Abstract

On the basis of an observation made at the interactive scientific exhibition Lugar a Dudas (Centro Cultural de la Ciencia, Buenos Aires, Argentina), we discuss a class of objects that, without violating Relativity Theory, move faster than light, and that emulate travels in time toward the past. These objects are implemented by processing a video recording, to which suitable time delays are introduced over the image. In contrast with traditional examples of superluminal motion, they can be realized using ordinary experimental and computational resources, which emphasizes their didactic value. We formulate the mathematical description of the effect of time delays in the video images, and pose a series of questions in order to motivate further analysis.

References

Crawford, F. S. (1971). Ondas. Berkeley Physics Course, vol. 3. Barcelona: Reverté.

Ferrer Soria, A., Ros Martínez, E. (2005).Física de Partículas y de Astropartículas. Valencia: Publica-cions Universitat de València.

Feynman, R. (1965). Nobel Lecture: The development of the space-time view of Quantum Electrodynamics, www.nobelprize.org

Feynman, R. (1949).The theory of positrons.PhysicalReview,76(6), 749-759.

Munroe, R. (2015) ¿Qué pasaría si…? Respuestas serias y científicas a todo tipo de preguntas absurdas. Buenos Aires: Aguilar.

Ponce, V. H. (2010).Mecánica Clásica. Mendoza: EDIUNC.

Rothman, M. A. (1960).Things that go faster than light. Scientific American, 203(1), 142-152.

Published

2016-12-07

How to Cite

Arroyo, S., & Zanette, D. (2016). Superluminal speeds and travels to the past in a screen with time delays. Journal of Physics Teaching, 28(2), 101–107. https://doi.org/10.55767/2451.6007.v28.n2.15815

Issue

Section

Essays and Special Topics