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    Could GPS Problems Explain Seemingly Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos?

    By John Matson | Scientific American – Wed, Feb 22, 2012
    OPERA apparatus

    OPERA apparatus. Credit: CERN

    One of the biggest stories in science last year was the announcement by a European physics collaboration that neutrinos can seemingly travel faster than light. Most physicists were skeptical of the result, which would upend a well-tested tenet of modern physics namely, that nothing outpaces light. And the researchers on the OPERA experiment that made the measurement were themselves very cautious, stating only that they had found a discrepancy that they could not get rid of.

    Today reports emerged that problems with GPS synchronization could explain away the anomalous neutrino velocities, although specific details have yet to be confirmed. ScienceInsider s Edwin Cartlidge reported that a bad connection between a GPS unit and a computer may be to blame but cited only anonymous sources familiar with the experiment.

    The Associated Press got an official if unspecific confirmation from CERN spokesperson James Gillies that a problem in the GPS system used to time the arrival of neutrino particles was discovered earlier in February. CERN is the Geneva laboratory for particle physics where the neutrino beam originates; OPERA detects the particles hundreds of kilometers away, in a lab buried in an Italian mountainside, and clocks their velocity on the journey.

    Now MSNBC s Alan Boyle reports that two potential issues have been identified:

    One has to do with a fiber-optic connector that sends a GPS time stamp to the experiment’s master clock. That connector may not have been functioning correctly when the neutrino-timing measurements were made, and as a result, the recorded flight time would be shorter than the actual time. That alone could explain the seemingly faster-than-light results.

    Another potential problem has to do with the oscillator that was used to generate the time stamps for GPS synchronization. This problem could have made the flight time look longer than it really was.

    Boyle s sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak yet on the subject. OPERA, he reports, will issue an official statement on Thursday about the new information. That means that we should know more soon, although it may take some time before physicists can test the effects of any potential glitches.

    UPDATE (6:35 P.M.): Nature News is reporting that an official statement from OPERA confirms that two possible GPS-related problems are being investigated.

    Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
    © 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

     

    7 comments

    • Mr. Nice Guy
      Mr. Nice Guy  •  3 mths ago
      A Higgs Boson walks into a church. The priest looks up and says "I'm sorry we don't allow your type in here"

      The Higgs Boson replies "But without me, how can you have mass?"
    • Unhappy Camper
      Unhappy Camper  •  Washington, District of Columbia  •  3 mths ago
      I thought that the experiment was tried again using an atomic clock and not the GPS method? Results appeared to be the same.
    • YIKES!
      YIKES!  •  3 mths ago
      A GSP link with a loose cable should NOT give erroronious time outputs. Each time stamp has error detection, if the cable was loose, it should generate an error signal, NOT an incorrect time reading.
    • Unbearable Attitude
      Unbearable Attitude  •  Mankato, Minnesota  •  3 mths ago
      Recalculating... Recalculating..... Turn right! Turn right! Faster than light by Magellan...
    • Patrick
      Patrick  •  3 mths ago
      Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of Bad News, which obeys its own special laws.

      The Hingefreel people of Arkintoofle Minor did try to build spaceships that were powered by Bad News but they didn't work particularly well and were so extremely unwelcome whenever they arrive anywhere that there wasn't really any point in being there. – Douglas Adams
    • Lukman
      Lukman  •  Jakarta, Indonesia  •  3 mths ago
      this is all wrong, no need such a complicated measurement. Just two perfectly sync timer, take the time from first timer when neutrino was launched then the second timer at time the neurino arrives.
    • Atilla
      Atilla  •  3 mths ago
      They had faster than light Neutrinos long before GPS was ever invented. I remember reading about them in the 1950's.
     Post a comment
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