Category: Faster-Than-Light

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Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier

Star Trek’s Subspace: Cosmic Shortcut

LCARS animation by Major Howard ‘Adge’ Cutler, http://lcars.org.uk

In the Star Trek universe, subspace is the imaginary realm that allows starships to break the light-speed barrier, enabling faster-than-light travel and instant communication. It invites speculation about how real-world physics deals with dimensions, quantum phenomena, and the very fabric of reality.

1D Reality in a 4D Universe

The idea of a one-dimensional reality existing within our four-dimensional universe fascinates physicists. While hypothetical, scenarios like cosmic strings and branes in string theory are considered, albeit facing significant physical and practical challenges.

Mathematical Possibilities of 1D Structures

Mathematically, embedding lower-dimensional structures within higher-dimensional spaces is feasible. Examples include cosmic strings and 1D branes, which interact with the full spacetime continuum rather than existing independently.

Challenges of Sustaining a 1D Reality

Creating a viable 1D reality encounters issues like limited gravitational complexity and topological constraints. Inherently connected to higher dimensions, a standalone 1D universe is difficult to envisage.

Photons: Bridging Classical and Quantum Realms

Photons defy simple classification, existing as both classical points in spacetime and quantum field excitations. Their duality illustrates the complex boundary between classical physics and quantum mechanics.

Tunneling: Quantum Leap Beyond Dimensions

According to academic consensus, photon quantum tunneling represents probabilistic path exploration, not dimensional shifts. This quantum mechanic aspect shows particles interacting through the quantum vacuum, highlighting a non-local nature.

Contrarian: How? All quantum physicists are saying is that there are probability equations that can predict very well the behavior of photons.

Quantum Vacuum and Higher Dimensions

Consensus: The quantum vacuum is typically seen as a four-dimensional entity, though speculative theories propose higher dimensions to link quantum mechanics with gravity, yet these ideas remain unconfirmed.

Contrarian: Now, let’s be clear: the unconfirmed ideas are both the “typically seen four-dimensional entity” as well as higher or lower dimensions.

“Fallback Dimensions”

Consensus: Phenomena such as entanglement and tunneling result from quantum field mechanics rather than hidden dimensions. Photons behave according to quantum field theory’s probabilistic nature, challenging classical constraints.

Contrarian: There is zero proof that “hidden dimensions” are not involved. If these “hidden dimensions” only serve as a metaphor to understand what goes on in entanglement and tunneling experiments, so be it.

Science is not primarily focused on comprehending the underlying mechanics of the universe; rather, its goal is to make predictions based on observations and to leverage these predictions.

Now, wouldn’t it be nice if one could devise an experiment to show that hidden dimensions are at play in quantum tunneling and entanglement experiments?

Imagination Meets Physics

Star Trek’s subspace is hypothetical; it mirrors our longing to transcend spatial limits. The true complexity of the universe lies in quantum fields, says the consensus, proving physics to be as inspiring as a doorknob.

Contrarian: What is a “quantum field?”

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Observation on evanescent waves

An evanescent wave is to Newtonian gravity as a radio wave is to a gravitational wave

Ocean waves are evanescent waves

Evanescent Wave vs. Newtonian Gravity

Evanescent Wave: This is a unique electromagnetic phenomenon that does not propagate. Instead, it is a near-field effect that diminishes exponentially with distance, commonly observed in situations like waveguides or total internal reflection.

Newtonian Gravity: This concept describes a static, non-radiative field characterized by immediate action-at-a-distance. It means that there is no delay or wave-like behavior in how gravitational forces are transmitted.

Connection: Both evanescent waves and Newtonian gravity illustrate localized, non-radiative interactions. Importantly, they do not dynamically transmit energy across spacetime.

Radio Wave vs. Gravitational Wave

Radio Wave: This is an electromagnetic wave that propagates through space (known as far-field radiation) and carries energy at the speed of light.

Gravitational Wave: According to general relativity, this refers to ripples in spacetime that also propagate and carry energy at the speed of light.

Connection: Both radio waves and gravitational waves are far-field, radiative phenomena governed by wave equations—Maxwell’s equations for radio waves and Einstein’s equations for gravitational waves.

Illustration: Both evanescent and oceanic wave sizes decrease exponentially with increasing distance.

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Cosmic Spaghetti: A Metaphorical Exploration of Wave-Particle Duality and Tunneling

The following are metaphors for string theory and photons. Metaphors are often used to illustrate mathematical concepts. But not all metaphors are treated as equal.

Ray, the Enthusiastic Explainer:

Let’s understand this.
The following metaphors present imaginative illustrations rather than accurate models of how photons, tunneling, or extra dimensions work. It mixes features of quantum mechanics with speculative elements of string theory and does not reflect current scientific understanding.

Imagining Photons

After trying to find a visual model of a point- or line-like photon exhibiting quantum tunneling—and failing in that attempt—I’m going to say that the photon, in its natural state, is like a squiggly (spinning) entity, basically cosmic spaghetti. Not the limp, dinner kind. Instead it’s the al dente sort, wriggling through 4D space with a head and tail like hyperactive space eels! Metaphorically speaking, of course.

The squiggly photon body extends into the 3rd and 4th dimensions. This model explains the point-like particle aspect (the head) and the wave-like aspect (the squiggles) of photon duality.

Kurt, the Bemused Realist:
That visualization is a metaphor and does not correspond to any accepted model in quantum mechanics or string theory. That’s your grand theory of quantum tunneling?

Ray:
Now, when this photon hits a physical barrier, it gets squashed down into the zero and the first dimension, like an egg hitting a brick wall at lightspeed. Splat. The 0D and 1D dimensions don’t know space or time. This enables the photon to tunnel almost instantaneously (faster than light) through solid objects.

That’s a neat metaphor and description for a layperson.

Kurt:
The description of tunneling as a “dimensional compression effect” that results in instantaneous traversal is a metaphorical flourish with no basis in established physics. Why not just say they’re cheating? ‘Oh, pardon me, barrier, just phasing through your atomic structure like a ghost who’s late for yoga—’

Ray:
Science needs drama! The photon’s squiggle gets pressed into the 1st dimension—think of it as the universe’s worst pancake. No space, no time. Poof. It’s through the wall. Faster than light, zero calories.

Kurt:
Your description of the photon hitting a brick wall like an egg is novel and doesn’t form part of current scientific understanding. And physicists haven’t throttled you for this?

Ray:
They’re too busy arguing! Thirty years debating if it’s ‘phase velocity’ or ‘signal velocity,’ or whether or not signals can tunnel through a barrier faster than light. It’s like two parrots squawking ‘causality!’ at each other. “Serious” scientists say that NOTHING under any circumstance can travel faster than light AND transmit information.

Meanwhile, photons are out there, winking through walls like they’ve got a VIP pass to reality. Wave-particle duality is a cornerstone of quantum mechanics (QM), not string theory. I made it into both for illustrative purposes. That’s why the metaphor makes sense in this context.

Kurt:
The statement is correct that wave–particle duality is a concept from quantum mechanics, and invoking it in the context of string theory in the manner described is provocative.

Ray:
The metaphor represents tunneling as a dimensional compression effect.

Kurt:
This currently has no basis in string theory or QM. ‘Dimensional compression’—sounds like my last relationship.

NASA illustration of photons. Looks like tadpoles (I assume that the high energy photon spins faster.)

Ray:
In this illustration from NASA, one photon (purple) carries a million times the energy of another (yellow). NASA are masters of sci-fi concept art. ‘Here’s a purple photon, one million times zingier! It’s got attitude.’

Kurt:
Apparently, NASA’s illustrations aim to simplify and motivate discussion; they should not be taken as literal descriptions of photon behavior in advanced physics theories. Science is 5% equations, 95% convincing people the universe is a cartoon using metaphor.

Ray:
So tunneling’s just… cosmic teleportation via existential crisis?

Kurt:
Exactly! The photon’s existential dread collapses it into a dot. Who am I? Where is time? And bam—it’s through the barrier. Existentialism: 1, Physics: 0. Because otherwise, we’d be stuck explaining it with math.  And nobody wants that.

Narrator (Deep Voice):
And thus, the mysteries of quantum mechanics remain.
But at least everyone agreed the metaphors needed a raise.

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Can information travel faster than light

When there is no time, there is no space (and vice versa)

…from the photon’s perspective, time does not exist. At the speed of light, time effectively shouts: “HALT!” Whether or not photons actually speak German is irrelevant. Important is: “When there is no time, there is no space.”

Image: hologram of a photon, Univ. of Warsaw

One of Günter Nimtz’s claims regarding superluminal tunneling is that the tunneling process occurs faster than light. Most physicists concur with this assertion; for instance, Aephraim Steinberg stated that the results on quantum tunneling are “robustly superluminal.” The contention arises from Nimtz’s suggestion that a signal can be transmitted faster than light, which anyone can hear, thereby challenging the no-communication theorem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-communication_theorem .

Thus, on one hand, physicists agree that particles can quantum-tunnel faster than light, while on the other hand, they maintain that this phenomenon cannot be used to transmit information. Yet, it raises the question: if we can perceive such signals, how does this reconcile with the established limits of communication in physics?

Interestingly, Aephraim Steinberg from the University of Toronto has called quantum tunneling “robustly superluminal.” (https://www.quantamagazine.org/quantum-tunnel-shows-particles-can-break-the-speed-of-light-20201020/). He has measured this by using “Larmor clocks,” which is a different way of saying he measured the spin of photons before and after entering the tunnel.

So, he transmitted the spin position of a photon at superluminal speed. How is this not “transmitting information?” He transmitted information about the state of the photon, and measured its change after superluminal travel through the quantum tunnel. Didn’t he violate the no-communication theorem? And why is he allowed to transmit information on the photon spin at superluminal speed, and Nimtz from the University of Cologne can’t transmit AM modulated waves with Mozart?

SIMPLIFIED string theory

For simplification, I have described a photon as a quantum entity, a point, or a 0D (zero dimension) brane. The word “brane” comes from the word “membrane” and the physicists who came up with string theory left out the “mem”. When the photon undergoes tunneling, it behaves like a 1D (one dimensional) string. A 1D string is a “one-brane” membrane, but the physicists who came up with string theory thought it would sound better to give it a different name. I think.

NerdBoy1392, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

So, In both 0D and 1D contexts, the concepts of time and space, as we know them, do not exist. You need the fourth dimension to have space and time. What I have done here is to illustrate the particle/wave duality.

My simplification has not much in common with “real” string theory. I called it “string” theory because two points (photons) connected by a line look like a string. A string can be a wave. A point is a particle.

Moreover, there is a common assertion that “in quantum mechanics, particles exist in spacetime.” From our perspective, a photon certainly exists in spacetime as it travels from point A to point B.

However, from the photon’s perspective, time does not exist. At the speed of light, time effectively shouts: “HALT!” Whether or not photons actually speak German is irrelevant. Important is: “When there is no time, there is no space.”

This agrees with time-dilation at c.

————————

Second opinion: “A Photon’s Point of View”

by Steve Nerlich (PhD), Director, International Research and Analysis Unit, Australia

“A photons view” by Christopher Vitale of Networkologies and the Pratt Institute

“From a photon’s point of view, it is emitted and then instantaneously reabsorbed. This is true for a photon emitted in the core of the Sun, which might be reabsorbed after crossing a fraction of a millimeter’s distance. And it is equally true for a photon that, from our point of view, has traveled for over 13 billion years after being emitted from the surface of one of the universe’s first stars. So it seems that not only does a photon not experience the passage of time, it does not experience the passage of distance either.”
End quote

The photon follows a null geodesic; this is the path that massless particles follow. That’s why it’s called “null”; its interval (its “distance” in 4D spacetime) is equal to zero, and it does not have a proper time associated with it.

Difference of SIMPLIFIED string theory to “real” string theory

In real string theory, any particle, at any time, is a string. In my simplified version, a particle following a null geodesic, not influenced by gravity or fields of any kind, is a 0D (zero dimensional) point.

“Real” string theory vs the simplified version

It is only by interacting with external fields, gravitational, electromagnetic or objects, that the particle (photon) gains the first dimension. The photon is slowed down, and it becomes a “string.” The length of this string is analogous to its deceleration and possible wave “length.”

So, a very high energy-photon, for instance in the gamma ray spectrum, is a relatively short “string,” which translates into a short wavelength. A short string makes short wavelengths.

If the photon is slowed down more, for instance, by hitting the dense atmosphere of a planet, it becomes longer and can express an infrared wavelength. A longer photon string makes longer wavelengths, and it interacts differently with its environment.

QED

A Photon’s Point of View (archive)
https://web.archive.org/web/20240423185232/https://phys.org/news/2011-08-photons-view.html

A Photon’s Point of View
https://phys.org/news/2011-08-photons-view.html

Images
left: Hologram of a single photon, Univ. of Warsaw
https://geometrymatters.com/hologram-of-a-single-photon/