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Originally Posted by sjastro
....Particles traveling faster than light (tachyons) need to be looked at in the full context. They are solutions to a symmetrical version of SR. Tachyons cannot travel below the speed of light for the same reasons as "normal" particles cannot travel faster than light. In both cases the speed of light is still a barrier.
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That's what I said
But most people wouldn't know this, and so they keep to the popular interpretation.
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This is the very point I am making. The role of infinity in SR has a definable physical interpretation. It doesn't in anyway compromise the theory.
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Yes, and I agree that infinities in SR have a definable interpretation, in that they are the reason for the speed of light barrier. However that doesn't lessen the fact that they're a cause of problems for SR. What needs to be done is more theoretical research into the actual nature of photons and what exactly happens when particles travel at lightspeed.... not just the usual interpretation of "Oh yeah, they reach infinite mass and zero size....SR said so". That makes them singularities (of infinite mass). Wouldn't matter from what inertial frame of reference you observed at, it would be disastrous for both you and the particle (or person in the ship).