Scientists discover neutrinos travel faster than the speed of light

Finding questions Einstein's theory of relativity

GENEVA (AP) - One of the very pillars of physics and Einstein's theory of relativity -- that nothing can go faster than the speed of light -- was rocked Thursday by new findings from one of the world's foremost laboratories.




Going faster than light is something that is just not supposed to happen according to Einstein's 1905 special theory of relativity -- the one made famous by the equation E equals mc2. But no one is rushing out to rewrite the science books just yet.




Einstein's special relativity theory, which says that energy equals mass times the speed of light squared, underlies "pretty much everything in modern physics," said John Ellis, a theoretical physicist at CERN who was not involved in the experiment. "It has worked perfectly up until now."

France's National Institute for Nuclear and Particle Physics Research collaborated with Italy's Gran Sasso National Laboratory on the experiment at CERN.





The neutrino has almost no mass, comes in three different "flavors," may have its own antiparticle and has been seen shifting from one flavor to another while shooting out from our sun, said physicist Phillip Schewe, communications director at the Joint Quantum Institute in Maryland.

Columbia University physicist Brian Greene, author of the book "Fabric of the Cosmos," said neutrinos theoretically can travel at different speeds depending on how much energy they have. And some mysterious particles whose existence is still only theorized could be similarly speedy, he said.



And that's exactly what the team in Geneva wants.


Only two labs elsewhere in the world can try to replicate the work: Fermilab and a Japanese installation that has been slowed by the tsunami and earthquake. And Fermilab's measuring systems aren't nearly as precise as



"This is ridiculous what they're putting out," Baden said. "Until this is verified by another group, it's flying carpets. It's cool, but ..."


Parke said there could be a cosmic shortcut through another dimension -- physics theory is full of unseen dimensions -- that allows the neutrinos to beat the speed of light.



"I don't think you're going to ever kill Einstein's theory. You can't. It works," Kostelecky said. There are just times when an additional explanation is needed, he said.

If the European findings are correct, "this would change the idea of how the universe is put together," Columbia's Greene said. But he added: "I would bet just about everything I hold dear that this won't hold up to scrutiny."


Borenstein reported from Washington.

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