Is the Relativity’s theory of Einstein wrong?

Mileyska Rodriguez Roman

As students we have learned that all this time there does not exist any particle faster than the speed of light, because that was proved experimentally by Albert Einstein. Our studies in physics normally are based on Einstein’s theories; also our world is described and explained by him. The question is what happens if some scientists discover that the theories of Einstein can be wrong? That really there exists a particle faster than light. That's something that according to Einstein's 1905 special theory of relativity, the famous E = m  equation, just doesn't happen. Let’s examine the experiment that some scientists are doing to prove that there exists a particle faster than light and what will happens if it is true.

Who was Einstein? Albert Einstein was a very recognized German physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, affecting a revolution in physics. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. The latter was pivotal in establishing quantum theory within physics. He realized the inadequacies of Newtonian mechanics and his special theory of relativity stemmed from an attempt to reconcile the laws of mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. Those theories mentioned above are only a little part of all the things that Einstein discover and proved experimentally, he was a genius and for this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history. 

What is the theory of the relativity and how it works? The theory of relativity said that the speed of light in a vacuum is constant and an absolute physical boundary for motion. It states that objects will move slower and shorten in length from the point of view of an observer on Earth. This theory is divided in two parts. The first is the Special Theory of Relativity which states that motion and rest are relative. The second is the General Theory of Relativity which applies to particles that accelerate due to gravitation and states that objects continue to move in a straight line in space-time, but we observe the motion as acceleration because of the curved nature of space-time. This theory was confirmed when occur a solar eclipse in 1919 where the light of the stars was deflected by the sun as the light passes through the earth.

We have known all of the past centuries of physics, now it’s time to know what happened to disregard what have been proved in the past by Einstein. A few scientists from Italy made an experiment named OPERA with neutrinos where these particles appear to be faster than the light. Neutrinos are similar to electrons instead they do not have electric charge, they are neutral. Because of that they are not affected by electromagnetic forces. These particles are able to pass through great distances in matter without being affected by it. OPERA is a neutrino detector built in a cavern under the Gran Sasso mount in central Italy. It is called long baseline experiment, which receives neutrinos of the muon type produced by the interactions of 400 GeV protons with the CNGS neutrino beam facility at the CERN laboratory, 454 miles away. The study is based upon the transformation of the muon variety of neutrinos into the tau variety where they are trying to explain the result that the neutrinos appeared to travel faster than the speed of light.

No matter what the CERN prove the velocity of light is constant and is going to be 300,000 km/s every time because this is a natural characteristic. This is not the part of the theory affected because if it were then the experiment would find photons faster than light when that is not the case. Then, what is the case? What happened? The problem is that the speed of light supposed to be a limiting velocity, if the CERN disregard this then it could affect some mathematical computes. For example, a theory predicts that objects that move with a velocity v close to the speed of light c are contracted and their times become longer; the point is that the mathematics of the theory breaks down for values of v = c for instances where the movement of the object is equal to the speed of light. Moreover, it will occur a critical situation because if neutrinos are faster then theories of Einstein will be falsified.

I think that there are many different ways to analyze these particles. If we examine the trajectory of each particle, for example, the neutrino travels in a horizontal path and the light travels in a curvilinear path, then the neutrinos will be faster.  It could be an error of Einstein or the CERN, so they have to keep analyzing all the possible variables experimentally and determine what makes more sense. If Einstein is wrong then it’s the beginning of a new revolutionary of physics.