In physics, the speed of light is considered the limit of the cosmic speed, and no object can reach or exceed the speed of light, which is a fundamental principle of the theory of relativity.
But is this principle really absolute? Is there really no such thing in the universe that exceeds the speed of light? If we want to travel through the Milky Way, the speed of light alone is certainly not enough, so is there a way for us to achieve faster than the speed of light?
How important is light to humans?
What is light? It's a deceptively simple but complex question.
From a physical point of view, light is an electromagnetic wave that is made up of an elementary particle called a photon. A photon is a substance that has both particle and wave properties, it can travel at different speeds in different media, and it can also be reflected, refracted against, scattered, absorbed, interfered, etc. to change its direction, intensity, and color.
The wavelength of light determines the color of light, and the different wavelengths of light make up the visible spectrum we see, which is the seven colors of the rainbow. However, the wavelength range of light is much more than that, including ultraviolet, infrared, X-rays, and so on, which are invisible to our naked eyes.
(The visible spectrum is only a small part of the broad electromagnetic spectrum)
Light is so important to humans because it is the primary way we perceive the world, and it is also the most important way we access energy and information. Light is a gift from the sun to the earth, the sun is a huge nuclear fusion reactor that constantly converts hydrogen atoms into helium atoms while releasing a large amount of energy, part of which is transferred to the earth in the form of light.
This light energy is converted into chemical energy by plants through photosynthesis, which provides the basis for the biological chain. This light energy is also absorbed and reflected by the water, land, and atmosphere on the Earth's surface, forming the Earth's climate and water cycle. These light energies have also been exploited by human beings, inventing fire, lamps, solar energy, and so on, providing the impetus for human civilization and progress.
Light is not only a carrier of energy, but also a carrier of information. Through light, we can see distant stars and learn about the history and future of the universe. Through light, we can observe microscopic atoms and molecules, revealing the structure and properties of matter. Through light, we can make lasers, optical fibers, optoelectronics, and so on, enabling efficient communication and computing.
The speed of light reaches 300,000 kilometers per second, in fact, whether it is a natural star or an artificial self-luminescence, its speed is constant, the same as the propagation speed of electromagnetic waves, and the reason why we can't experience the speed of light is because it is too fast. The only difference from electromagnetic waves is that it carries heat.
So is light the limit of the speed of the universe? Yes at the moment, because we haven't made anything faster than the speed of light. The speed of light seems very fast to us, but it is still too slow on a cosmic scale, so some people think that humans will never be able to leave the solar system.
Why can't objects exceed the speed of light? Could humans never cross galaxies?
So why can't objects exceed the speed of light? Knowing that objects are fundamentally different from electromagnetic waves like light. Whether on Earth or in space, energy is needed for an object to move, and energy is not created in a vacuum.
It takes a lot of energy to accelerate an object to the speed of light, or even beyond. The first is the technical limitations, take a car as an example, even if there is enough energy to supply him, but the engine has the highest power to do this, no matter how much energy there is, it can only keep moving, but it will not become faster.
There is also the limitation of energy, even if there is enough technical support, we cannot provide enough energy, because the faster the speed of the object, the greater the energy required, when close to the speed of light, the energy required is close to infinity, but infinite energy cannot be achieved at all.
Moreover, Einstein's theory of relativity also believes that light is the limit of the universe, and the theory of relativity points out that the speed of motion is closely related to other properties of objects, and if an object is to accelerate to the speed of light, its mass will grow to infinity, thus requiring infinite energy.
As a simple example, have you ever heard of a reduction gear set? It is said that it takes more energy to make the last gear turn than the energy of the whole universe, because this gear set slows down by a factor of 10^100, and it takes 10^100 turns to make the last gear turn the first gear.
You must know that the particles of the entire universe add up to less than 10^90, so some people think of turning it into an acceleration gear directly? Theoretically, as long as it can be rotated once, the speed of the first gear can definitely exceed the speed of light, but in reality it cannot rotate, even if it can provide infinite power, there is no matter in the universe that can withstand it, so theoretically it is impossible to reach or exceed the speed of light.
So they think that humans will never be able to cross galaxies, because it would take 100,000 years to travel across the galaxy at the speed of light, let alone at the current speed of humans. To give a simple example, the fastest manned vehicle in the world, the X-15, has a maximum speed of about 2.3 kilometers per second, and the fastest unmanned probe, the Parker Solar Probe, is still too slow for the speed of light, despite reaching 109 kilometers per second.
For example, the Voyager 1 probe launched by the United States has been flying at a speed of 17 kilometers per second since its launch in 1977, and it took nearly 50 years for it to fly out of the solar system, let alone a manned vehicle. Therefore, this seemingly simple problem cannot be solved with the current level of human science and technology.
Is there a faster-than-light phenomenon in the universe? How to achieve faster-than-light flight?
So the universe is so mysterious, does there really not exist more than the speed of light? Since the improvement of human science and technology, the speed of light has always been the focus of discussion and research of scientists, from 1955 to the present, scientists have used a series of observations, theories and experiments to study the phenomenon of faster than light, but many studies have found that faster than the speed of light exists.
In fact, there are many things in the universe that exceed the speed of light, such as the explosion experienced after the Big Bang. In the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang, the universe also exploded, lasting only 10^(-33) seconds, at which point the universe expanded by 2^100 times, yielding a scale of 10^30 times the previous scale.
When the surge stopped, the original universe was formed, but the universe continued to expand, but the speed slowed down, according to scientists, affected by the dark matter and other substances in the universe, the speed of expansion is affected by distance, generally speaking, the distance is 3.3 million light years, and the expansion rate is 70 kilometers per second, so as long as the distance is far enough, the expansion speed is also more than the speed of light.
Significant superluminal motion can be observed in many radio galaxies, quasars, and other extremely distant stars. So how do humans achieve faster-than-light flight?
In fact, in science fiction movies and novels, there have been many times faster-than-light propulsion systems, such as the warp engine spaceship in the movie "Star Trek", which can travel at speeds several times faster than the speed of light. Although it is a movie, it is not meant to be imagined.
His theory is to take advantage of the distortability of space, because the mass and energy of objects can affect time and space, and it is theoretically possible to shrink the space in front of the spacecraft by releasing huge energy, and expand the space behind it, and move forward in a stable area. But it is still in the theoretical stage, and it is not possible to build such a flying machine with human technology and resources.
So is there really no other way to achieve faster-than-light flight? In fact, to talk about faster-than-light, we have to mention black holes and wormholes. As we all know, black holes are famous for their powerful attraction, and the most powerful thing about it is that even light cannot escape from it, which means that the gravitational acceleration and surface escape speed of black holes are faster than the speed of light.
Why are black holes so powerful? We can see how black holes are formed, because massive stars will self-destruct because of the end of their lifespan, and finally form a dense singularity, because the mass and energy of the singularity are infinitely large and produce a large amount of attraction, so black holes are formed.
(The space in front shrinks and the space behind expands)
So in this way, the center of the black hole is a singularity, and the powerful attraction of the black hole comes from the singularity, so when an object enters the black hole, it will quickly crash into the singularity, and this speed is definitely more than the speed of light, then we can think that the singularity is equivalent to the entrance of the space-time tunnel, because the current theory believes that more than the speed of light will jump space-time.
So if we can withstand the tearing caused by the acceleration generated when we crash into the singularity, we can achieve superluminal speed and travel through time and space, which may also be the way for human interstellar exploration in the future.
Wormholes can also easily exceed the speed of light, wormholes have always been synonymous with space-time tunnels, but it is true, theoretically there are many wormholes in the universe, a wormhole may connect a billion light-years such as extremely long distances, or may connect a few meters such as short distances, or different points in time, or even different universes.
But no matter what it is, it will not appear out of thin air, so how did the wormhole come about, and why did it happen? The generation of the wormhole also comes from the fluctuation of energy, generally speaking, the universe is flat, but because of the existence of some large masses and celestial bodies containing large energy, the flatness of the universe changes.
Take black holes as an example, some black holes will produce huge gravitational energy, this gravitational energy will distort the otherwise flat universe, like ripples on the surface of the water, high and low, for example, the distance of one light year will become closer than the original, or even farther away, so as to reach the purpose of traveling through time and space.
Some scientists believe that wormholes may also be tunnels connecting two black holes, but so far humans have not discovered the existence of wormholes, but just like black holes, people did not believe in the existence of black holes until 2019, when humans took the first photo of a black hole.
(If there is a wormhole near the ground, it may look like this)
So maybe one day humans will also discover wormholes and use them for interstellar exploration. So do you think humanity will one day be able to accomplish such a feat, or do you think we have any better way to fly faster than light?
Resources:
1. U.S. scientists plan to develop a warp engine spacecraft: light years can be traveled in 2 weeks.NetEase-2014-06-16
2. Planck's Modified Cosmic Age: 13.82 Billion Years.2013-03-22
3. Comments on Einstein's Theory of Gravity.atticusrarebooks