Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/3/84; site talcott.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!zehntel!tektronix!hplabs!hao!seismo!harvard!wjh12!talcott!gjk From: gjk@talcott.UUCP (Greg J Kuperberg) Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: Re: (Re:)* Faster than Light Message-ID: <183@talcott.UUCP> Date: Wed, 12-Dec-84 13:25:36 EST Article-I.D.: talcott.183 Posted: Wed Dec 12 13:25:36 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 16-Dec-84 06:40:02 EST References: <327@mhuxt.UUCP> <8130@watarts.UUCP> <333@mhuxt.UUCP>, <2460@ihuxf.UUCP> <69@unc.UUCP> <117@sbcs.UUCP> Organization: Harvard Lines: 19 > If I recall correctly, Einstein's equations say that the speed of light > represents a barrier that cannot be _crossed_, i.e. it isn't possible to > accelerate an object from a velocity below c to one above c (this isn't my > area of expertise, so maybe someone can correct me if I'm mistaken)... > -- > Saumya Debray This is a common notion, and somewhat inaccurate. c is not some kind of speed limit for which you get arrested for breaking, or that your ship breaks down if you try to cross it. Rather, Einstein reformulated the idea of motion, so that c is analogous to infinite speed. Thus moving faster than c is like outrunning your own shadow. Rather than being a barrier, it is "the point at infinity." --- Greg Kuperberg harvard!talcott!gjk "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government." -Monty Python