Length vs Speed

I don't know who made this graphic, but it's a great way to compare length vs speed and the Physics that can be applied.

The Neutrino's Saga - Part 6

Crédito: imgace.com

In opposition of what many people thought, the saga of the neutrinos is not over yet. 

I had already mentioned that these particles conducted between CERN and OPERA, reach the detector sooner than expected. And late last month, I wrote about the experience from ICARUS, whose results contradict those of the OPERA experiment. What is certain is that the team of OPERA has published the second version of this article on arXiv pre-print and the result is: it's the same. Well, almost the same! 

The experiment was repeated with a lower energy, resulting a time difference of 57.8 ns (1 ns = 10^-9 s) against the 61.1 ns obtained previously (that's a difference of 3.3 ns). In addition, concerns about the use in the experiment of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to synchronize the clocks at each start and end of the neutrino beam, are unlikely to be so easily dispelled. The GPS, which was used in both experiments, is  inexperienced in the field of high energy physics and particles.  There are scientists who would like to see the measurement of time checked using another part of the OPERA detector.  This measurement requires a very precise analysis of the time and probably with another type of configuration, to be performed by other entities in future experience (including the MINUS experiment at Fermilab, which was mentioned in a previous post, and is preparing to conduct tests early next year). Still, CERN and Opera will also continue to conduct more experiments to see if there are faults in their calculus or equipment. 

So if you think you can throw the books in physics for the trash, think again. We'll have to wait  to see how this saga will end. 

Other publications: BBC, Science Mag, Washington Post, Nature, Universe Today. 

To learn more about particles can go to the website particleadventure

Source:LiveScience

The Neutrino's Saga - Part 3

The OPERA experiment

Roll over Einstein: Law of physics challenged (Update 3)
One of the very pillars of physics and Einstein's theory of relativity - that nothing can go faster than the speed of light - was rocked Thursday by new findings from one of the world's foremost laboratories.
in PhysOrg.com

"[...] As a spokesperson for the MINOS neutrino experiment told Ars yesterday, there are three potential sources of error in the timing measurements: distance errors, time-of-flight errors, and errors in the timing of neutrino production. The vast majority of both the paper and the lecture were dedicated to discussing how these errors were reduced (the actual detection of the neutrinos was only a small portion of the paper).

[...] There are a lot of potential sources of error they know about—the paper’s table lists a dozen of them. Small errors in each of these could add up to something more significant than their total error. Then there are the classic unknown unknowns.

 in wired.com

More in the news Reuters, PhysicsAbout

Attention at FermiLab: http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/news/7807816-418/physics-turned-on-its-ear-catches-attention-at-fermilab.html

See the video of the presentation in a seminar: http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1384486/

Faster than the speed of light

Roll over Einstein: Pillar of physics challenged (Update)
A pillar of physics - that nothing can go faster than the speed of light - appears to be smashed by an oddball subatomic particle that has apparently made a giant end run around Albert Einstein's theories.

It seems that the muon neutrinos from CERN traveled 730 km and arrived the Gran Sasso Lab, Italy, a billionths of a second earlier than expected (it means it traveled that distance faster than the speed of light).

Applying Einstein's General Theory of Relativity to Superconducting Circuits

ScienceDaily (June 11, 2011) — In recent years, UC Santa Barbara scientists showed that they could reproduce a basic superconductor using Einstein's general theory of relativity. Now, using the same theory, they have demonstrated that the Josephson junction could be reproduced. The results are explained in a recent issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.

Read complete article in Science Daily

NASA's Gravity Probe B Confirms Two Einstein Space-Time Theories

Image credit: PhysOrg.com

NASA's Gravity Probe B (GP-B) mission has confirmed two key predictions derived from Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, which the spacecraft was designed to test. 

The experiment, launched in 2004, used four ultra-precise gyroscopes to measure the hypothesized geodetic effect, the warping of space and time around a gravitational body, and frame-dragging, the amount a spinning object pulls space and time with it as it rotates. 

GP-B determined both effects with unprecedented precision by pointing at a single star, IM Pegasi, while in a polar orbit around Earth. If gravity did not affect space and time, GP-B's gyroscopes would point in the same direction forever while in orbit. But in confirmation of Einstein's theories, the gyroscopes experienced measurable, minute changes in the direction of their spin, while Earth's gravity pulled at them. (NASA)

Source: NASA

Read more in PhysOrg.com