Do neutrinos really travel faster than light?

David Heath
Friday, 23 December 2011 22:39

Science - Energy

A recent experiment suggested that neutrinos may be able to travel faster than light.  The scientists who conducted the experiment did not believe the result, but were unable to find an error with the experiment.

It was the philosopher of science Karl Popper who opined (and I paraphrase here) that no scientific theory can ever be proven by means of experimental testing, but that a single verified counterexample is enough to disprove the theory.  Popper went on to suggest that any theory which can be falsified through continued experimentation (but hasn't been) is considerably stronger than one for which no opportunity for falsification exists.

A few months ago, a team of scientists from the Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus (OPERA) Collaboration completed a series of experiments whereby a burst of neutrinos (a very small subatomic particle that can pass through ordinary matter as if it was as empty intergalactic space) was fired from the CERN facility on the French-Swiss border to a detector in northern Italy, 730km away.

Time and time again, the stream of neutrinos arrived at the detector 60 nanoseconds earlier than they would have if they travelled at the speed of light.  And we all know Einstein was quite certain that nothing with a non-zero mass could exceed the speed of light.

As with all such experiments, the scientific team offered their results for wider consideration with the general comment that they didn't necessarily believe the results but were unable to find any error source.

Read on for how the experimenters tested their own results for error.