On 11 January 2014 12:46, Stephen Paul King <stephe...@provensecure.com>wrote:
> Dear LizR, > > The paper (that I can't seem to find at the moment) that I am using as > a reference takes into account other sources of variation in arrival times, > for example that the gamma rays where not simultaneously emitted, and looks > also at the dispersal of the individual polarizations of the photons. If > there is a granularity to space-time, there will be an energy dependence in > both the arrival times and the polarization dispersal patterns. Both where > not found on that occasion within the sensitivity of the device discussed. > The basic point here is that such an energy dependence is a violation of > the invariance of the speed of light for observers and makes space-time's > structure observer dependent. This concept can be taken in many > directions... but nevertheless, the idea that space-time is not smooth has > been looked at by many researchers and has severe consequences that need to > be carefully considered. > > I agree. The main significance of this new events is that it was at a higher energy than anything previously seen, and hence in theory probes a lower size of granularity - especially since it was also at a high redshift, and hence was even more energetic when it happened than it appears to us now. The main thing is, we need enough results at various energies to build up a coherent picture. It's all highly speculative at present, with only a relatively few data points. If space-time's smooth or not, of course, either would be an exciting discovery. Especially if it's quantised, but at a smaller scale than most theories predict - hence ruling out some or all of the current ideas. "More light!" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
