i know speed of light ........

but i want to know how one can go a speed greater than that.........

if we manage to overcome gravity, then it can be possible ........

what u think , plz reply........

I don't think it is possible, Einstein proved it that the fastest speed that any particle can achieve is the speed of light, and by the way, if u consider motion in the direction of earth's gravity,  then elimination of gravity will not solve ur problem - rather create a hinderance, as motion in the direction of gravity will increase ur velocity, as time passes.

Mass of an object travelling at speed v is

M(v)=M(r)/root[1-(v/c)²]

Where M(r) is mass at rest, c is velocity of light. U can clearly see what happens if v>c. hence it is not possible. 

@ madmax,

what djdylan2000 has done is nothing but an outcome of Einstein's theory, u eleminate gravity and then u speek of a body being massless, and that too travelling at a speed >c, where does gravity come up in the eqn M(v)=M(r)/root[1-(v/c)²?

 

 And kindly tell me from where u get the fact that energy flows with a speed >c?

djdylan2000 has worked to contradict the possibility of any particle achieving the speed of light.

The actual postulate of EINSTEIN is that "The speed of light is a constant from any frame of referrence"

So, d speed of light in vaccum is always going to be 299792458 m/s irrespective of the observer.

Apt to this postulate it is clear that no object has got the possibility of achieving the speed of  light.

An excerpt from a scientific journal publication that I've also put up on my blog:

Do go through it.



http://spideyunlimited.blogspot.com/2007/10/faster-than-light.html

It seems tht my last comment has generated a lot of scepticism from u guys...so I'll explain exactly wht I meant point by point....I'll even provide links to support my points :)

1) Energy Expansion at speeds greater than the speed of light

Could the Universe have expanded faster than the speed of light at the Big Bang?

First I'll make it clear to everyone tht even in the Big Bang theory, we don't know for sure wht happened in the period between the creation of the universe to 10^-35 seconds after the bang. After tht also, we can speculate and then based on experimental observations we can accept theories..Here's what inflationary cosmology says: in the early phase of the universe, it went through a phase called inflation, during which period, the universe expanded by a factor of more than 10⁵⁰ (exponentially) in a time-scale of less than 10^-30 seconds. So, there is some evidence that the universe DID undergo a period of expansion faster than the speed of light. And of course this means Energy spread from the volume less thn that of an atom to a massively large size in an amazingly small timegap.

Links:

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=167

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=575

2) Light faster than the speed of .....well......Light!!

A team of researchers from the EPFL has successfully demonstrated, for the first time, that it is possible to control the speed of light – both slowing it down and speeding it up – in an optical fiber, using off-the-shelf instrumentation in normal environmental conditions. Their results, to be published in the August 22 issue of Applied Physics Letters, could have implications that range from optical computing to the fiber-optic telecommunications industry. They were able not only to slow light down by a factor of three from its well – established speed c of 300 million meters per second in a vacuum, but they've also accomplished the considerable feat of speeding it up – making light go faster than the speed of light.

Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/epfd-ltt081905.php

3) Gravity waves (Hypothetical) to get stuff faster than the speed of light

 this theory says Accelerating masses generate gravitational radiation when acceleration is high. Basically this suggests tht one side of the universe in completely dark for us simply coz we cannot perceive anything beyond the three spatial dimensions and one forward moving time dimension.

The theory of relativity predicts that masses being accelerated should emit ``gravitational radiation" in the same way that charged particles emit electromagnetic radiation when accelerated. To put it simply, use of gravitational wave in higher dimensions easily produce thousand time faster speed than light.

4) The whole time-space fabric manipulation to get superluminal speeds

Physicist Hal Puthoff  has recently suggested that the ability of a spacecraft to modify the properties of space in its immediate vicinity could allow it to travel faster than light. This is because the speed of light is simply a measure of two properties of the medium of space, or the vacuum, permeability and permittivity. It has been tacitly assumed by some theoreticians that the speed of light might be a measure not only of the electrical properties of space, but also the mechanical properties of space as well. It turns out now that this is probably not the case!

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light#Distort_the_space-time_fabric

5) The astronomers view......again

Astronomer Tom Flandern has recently detailed all the evidence that shows that gravitational forces, unlike light, operate with no measurable aberration..but Van Flandern shows that there are sound reasons for believing that the "speed of gravity" is not infinite. By carefully studying the observable data Van Flandern now concludes that the speed of gravity is greater than or equal to the present speed of light by a factor of 2 x 10¹⁰. This velocity (6 x 10¹⁸ meters per second) turns out to be just below Barry Setterfield's latest estimate of the speed of light everywhere in the universe on Day Two of creation week! Setterfield arrives at this initial velocity of light on the basis of the maximum observed Hubble constant which gives an initial value of c turns out to be 2.54 x 10¹⁰ times the present value. Since creation week the speed of light has dropped precipitously to its present value--following decay curves we can now piece together with some confidence based on (a) measured values of c for the last 300 years, (b) corrections to known radioactive decay dates which go back to approximately 2000 BC, and (c) the observed quantization of the red shift of light from distant galaxies for the time period from creation to about the early AD centuries.

As the universe aged, the free space permittivity and permeability increased and c decreased--but the velocity of gravity may not be tied to the permittivity and permeability of free space! If this the case the velocity of gravity stayed at the original velocity of c. If we can produce a propulsion system based on gravitational principles rather than electromagnetic or chemical ones, we could travel at absolutely enormous speeds--we could hope to push a space craft anywhere in the universe, very literally at warp speeds beyond what even the Starship Enterprise could produce!

Link: http://ldolphin.org/gspeed.html

6) djdylan2000 knows his equations eh?? 

The DJ said:"Mass of an object travelling at speed v is M(v)=M(r)/root[1-(v/c)²]. Where M(r) is mass at rest, c is velocity of light. U can clearly see what happens if v>c."

Well what if negative mass exists?? Even though this is still hypothetical, many scientists do believe tht it shud be able to convert +ve mass to -ve mass at speeds >c

In both Newton's and Einstein's theories of gravity, negative mass is a requirement for antigravity to exist.

Banesh Hoffmann, a one-time collaborator of Einstein's, explored in mathematical detail some possible consequences of the existence of negative mass.He assumed, in accordance with relativity theory, that both positive and negative masses can radiate gravitational waves (just as electric charges can radiate electromagnetic waves); moreover relativity theory suggests that the energy carried by such waves if positive, regardless of the sign of the radiating mass. This leads to the remarkable result that a positive mass should be able to transform itself into a negative one by radiating away sufficient energy as gravitational waves and that further radiation should makes its mass increasingly negative.

Link: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/N/negative_mass.html

------------------------------------- My Final Views -----------------------------------------

I am NOT saying that true superluminal communication is possible......Science-fiction-style space travel, in which matter exceeds the speed of light in its own frame of ref defies known physics. I'm saying tht effective FTL, in which unusually distorted regions of the space-time fabric (are U bored of me saying this over and over?) might permit matter to reach distant locations faster than what it would take light in the normal route, IS VERY VERY "LIKELY" POSSIBLE

The simple problem is tht even with all the progress in expts involving the speed of light, there is lot of controversy and debate about these kinds of research experiments since it is difficult to carry out such experiments which could be inundated by numerous unidentified errors. Many physicists would say that these experiments are interesting, but that in every case, there will be an ambiguity which will allow nature to protect the causality effect.

Some scientists even argue tht Casimir forces can be used to transmit signals/energy packets at speeds greater than light, without violating the Special relativity thm.

According to some recent researches and experiments, physicists also suggest that there are certain things in universe which can travel little faster than light. For example, there are certain velocities in connection with the process of wave transmission, which are well capable of exceeding the speed of light. Those who understand the mechanism of wave travel and its velocity must have an idea that the phase velocity of a wave or the group velocity of a wave packet are not in principle restricted below light speed. The speed connected with wave phenomena that, according to special relativity, must never go beyond the light speed, is the front velocity of the wave or wave packet, which generally can be seen as the speed of the first little stirring.

There is so much happening in the world of physics that you can never say for a fact that statement x is right and statement y is wrong...........Theoretical Physics is more abt "if x is right then y will perhaps be wrong causing z to be proved" rather than directly proving tht z is right!! Indirect proofs U know...... Also to add tht us humans are not yet advanced enough to understand the workings of the world....and as time goes on, we'll probably open up our perspective of the universe....

I'll end this looooong and hopefully helpful post with a few quotes by my greatest inspiration, Nikola Tesla, that embelish human understanding of everything

1) “The spread of civilisation may be likened to a fire; First, a feeble spark, next a flickering flame, then a mighty blaze, ever increasing in speed and power.”

2)"The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."

3) "Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality."

4)"Humanity is not yet sufficiently advanced to be willingly led by the discoverer's keen searching sense. But who knows? Perhaps it is better in this present world of ours that a revolutionary idea or invention instead of being helped and patted, be hampered and ill-treated in its adolescence - by want of means, by selfish interest, pedantry, stupidity and ignorance; that it be attacked and stifled; that it pass through bitter trials and tribulations, through the strife of commercial existence. So do we get our light. So all that was great in the past was ridiculed, condemned, combatted, suppressed - only to emerge all the more powerfully, all the more triumphantly from the struggle."

Please do read this 4 part article on my blog abt Nikola Tesla : Nikola Tesla--The Man ,The Machine

--------------------------------------------------------THANX-----------------------------------------------------

Do nudge for more discussions!!

Cheers ;)