On 15 Oct 2011 at 9:47, Mike Palij wrote: > Well, you can forget about them if re-analyses are correct. > Here is one source that explains away the faster than light finding in > terms of relativity and different frames of reference -- it is for a > general audience: > http://dvice.com/archives/2011/10/speedy-neutrino.php
Um, not so fast, relativity-breath. That headline which claims "Speedy neutrino mystery likely solved, relativity safe after all" is a tad too quick (and by more than 60 ns) to reassure us. A more cautious (and preferable) headline is this one, "Faster-than-Light Neutrino Puzzle Claimed Solved by Special Relativity". With emphasis on "claimed". According to this readable article from MIT, at http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27260/ , there are now more than 80 papers which have attempted to debunk or explain the phenonomenon. This is just one more, even if a worthy one. The article goes on to observe, "It's not to say the problem is done and dusted. Peer review is an essential part of the scientific process and this argument must hold its own under scrutiny from the community at large and the OPERA team in particular. " Just so. One thing puzzles me about this proffered explanation. It focuses on a possible inaccuracy in measuring the time/distance between the two locations. But as pointed out in an article I previously cited, ( http://tinyurl.com/3u5hys7 ), the claim that the speed of light has been exceeded doesn't depend directly on such a measurement, but instead on an analysis of the distribution of leaving and arrival times of the neutrinos. The OPERA authors emphasize this, saying "It is worth stressing that this measurement does not rely on the difference between a start (t0) and a stop signal but on the comparison of two event time distributions." I think we've gotta leave this one to the physicists to figure out. After all, do they tell us how to run psychology? Stephen -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=13447 or send a blank email to leave-13447-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
