Parrots all over squawk, and utter the same screeching: faster than light violates causality. This is an hilarious ode to the herd instinct, as we have overwhelming evidence that faster than light is the architecture of the UNIverse. Here is a dialogue with CHAT GPT exhibiting the closed mindedness rampant in much of today’s theoretical physics (although I think it’s going to change fast).
***
Tyranosopher replying to a bogus (TRADITIONAL) argument of Chat GPT that FTL violated causality: If an instantaneous signal reaches a star telling it to emit light how does that violate causality?
ChatGPT: Apologies for the confusion. You are correct; the example I provided does not precisely represent a causality violation. Let’s clarify the situation:
In the scenario where an instantaneous signal reaches a star, instructing it to emit light, it might not necessarily violate causality. This is because we are assuming the existence of an instantaneous signal, which is already beyond the scope of our current understanding of physics.
However, the situation still raises some issues related to causality and the order of events:
- Causality and Relativity: According to the theory of special relativity, there is no such thing as an absolute simultaneity of events. Different observers in relative motion will disagree on the timing of events. So, what might be considered instantaneous in one frame of reference could appear delayed in another. This can lead to paradoxical situations where the cause and effect relationship between events becomes ambiguous.
- Cause and Effect Reversal: In the scenario you described, the signal reaching the star could be considered the cause, and the star emitting light could be considered the effect. However, if there is no unique, absolute notion of simultaneity, different observers could disagree on whether the signal arrived before or after the star emitted light, leading to a confusion of cause and effect.
- Potential Paradoxes: If information or signals could travel faster than light, it opens the possibility of constructing devices or systems that send information backward in time. This could lead to potential paradoxes, like the grandfather paradox mentioned earlier, where causality is seemingly violated.
It is important to note that the idea of instantaneous signals or communication at speeds faster than light is purely hypothetical and speculative. Our current understanding of physics, as described by the theory of relativity, does not allow for such phenomena.
In the context of established physics, information cannot be transmitted faster than the speed of light, and causality is preserved as cause and effect relationships are always ordered in time. Any hypothetical scenarios involving faster-than-light communication or travel would require significant revisions to our current understanding of the laws of physics. Until such phenomena are supported by robust scientific evidence and theoretical frameworks, they remain speculative and inconsistent with our present understanding of the universe.
***
Tyranosopher recapitulates: that simultaneity is relative was thoroughly established by Poincaré when he established what he named “Relativity”. Events that seem to happen at the same time in the fixed frame will not appear to be simultaneous as seen in the moving frame (when the axis of the events is not perpendicular to that of the motion of the moving frame). So actually if A and B happen simultaneously in fixed frame F, there are moving frames where A precedes B and others where B precedes A
And actually the space of these moving frames is everywhere dense (technical math term), and their complement has measure ZERO (tech math term): this means that what looks simultaneous in F looks simultaneous in roughly NO other frame!
Thus, establishing causality in Relativity is a tall order: if all frames are equivalent and if causality means something happens before something else, we have a problem, because we can always find plenty of moving frames where that’s not true!
***
In his paper suggesting Faster Than Light (FTL) communication does not happen, Einstein just says effect could apparently precede cause… And that is exactly what Poincaré had published many years prior. Nothing new there, and nothing to do with true causality. That’s all Einstein says in his famous NO-FTL paper, it seems to me, once one has removed the mathematical fog he installed on that logical landscape. That is of course a very weak argument, as Poincaré had explained years earlier that this apparent causality switching was a consequence of the locally finite speed of light, as I explained in the preceding paragraph.
***.
Tyranosopher: CHAT GPT says we don’t have a device enabling FTL com. Well, actually, we do have an effect which could lead to a device, certainly on a small scale: Quantum Tunneling.
ChatGPT: You are correct, and I apologize for the oversight in my previous response. Quantum tunneling is indeed a phenomenon in quantum mechanics that allows particles to pass through energy barriers that classical physics would typically consider impenetrable. It is an important effect in the microscopic world and has been observed in various experiments.
In quantum tunneling, particles such as electrons can “tunnel” through barriers without having enough energy to overcome them classically. This effect has been harnessed in some electronic devices like tunnel diodes and scanning tunneling microscopes, which rely on quantum tunneling to operate.
While quantum tunneling is fascinating and has practical applications, it is essential to clarify its relationship to faster-than-light communication or travel:
- Quantum Tunneling and FTL Communication: While quantum tunneling can be observed for particles traversing barriers, it does not enable faster-than-light communication or information transfer. Etc…
Tyranosopher: Well I can demonstrate from the most basic formalism of Quantum Mechanics, that Quantum Tunneling is faster than light.
ChatGPT: I apologize for any confusion in my previous responses. Let’s clarify the concept of quantum tunneling and its relationship to the speed of light.
Quantum tunneling is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where a particle can pass through a potential energy barrier even when its energy is less than the barrier’s height. It occurs because particles in the quantum realm do not behave like classical objects, and they can exhibit wave-like properties, leading to non-intuitive behaviors.
While quantum tunneling allows particles to traverse barriers that would be classically forbidden, it does not violate the principle that nothing can travel faster than light in a vacuum. The confusion might arise from considering tunneling in isolation without considering the broader context of causality and the principles of special relativity.
In quantum tunneling, particles are not traveling through space faster than light. Instead, they are penetrating barriers through a probabilistic process that involves wave-like properties. The actual traversal time of the particle through the barrier cannot be measured independently since it involves uncertainties and complex quantum mechanical calculations.
However, it is essential to understand that the concept of faster-than-light communication or travel in the sense of classical objects or information propagation still remains unattainable based on our current understanding of physics and the principles of causality and special relativity. While quantum mechanics brings fascinating and counterintuitive phenomena, it does not enable practical faster-than-light communication or travel as commonly envisioned in science fiction.
***
So basically CHAT GPT keeps on repeating FTL doesn’t happen because Einstein said so. Physics has turned into a religion where the sacred words of the great priest Einstein at some early point in his career repeat a misinterpretation of Poincaré’s work.
A much older and wiser Einstein himself would find to his dismay that Quantum Mechanics implied FLT… He called it “Spooky Action At a Distance”, and now Einstein’s EPR paper of 1935 (30 years after his initial Relativity reformulation in 1905 of Poincaré’s Relativity) is Einstein’s most quoted work…and the Twentieth Century’s most quoted physics paper… and justly so…
***
The truth? FTL is the architecture of the universe.
To be explained further.
Patrice Ayme
.