Scientists broadly deem faster-than-light transmission of mass or information impossible, as it would violate the laws of general relativity and causality, essentially meaning that such signals would be capable of time travel and the many paradoxes that would entail.
But what if the subject itself has no mass at all? As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers claims it has observed “dark points” within light waves that can move faster than the speed of light, confirming a prediction dating back to the 1970s.
These “dark points” observed by the researchers are effectively small “holes” or vortices within the light wave structure itself that can move faster than their surroundings, the team posits.
“As strange as it sounds — imagine a vortex in a river overtaking the flow of water in which it exists — the phenomenon is real,” an official press release reads. “Until now, this was based on theory.”
Since the observed vortices don’t carry information or have any mass, they technically don’t violate Einstein’s laws of general relativity.
They are also darker than darkness itself. According to the paper, these vortices are “zero points” at which the light wave’s amplitude drops to zero.
“In simpler terms, they are points of complete darkness embedded within the light field,” the press release reads.
To capture the movement of these vortices in real time, the researchers used a modified high-speed electron microscope to capture moments over just three quadrillionths of a second.
By stacking hundreds of images across many experiments, the team created a timelapse, watching as the vortices clashed into each other, occasionally exceeding the speed of light itself.
The findings support a theory first established in 1978 by British theoretical physicist Michael Berry, who first posited that the velocity of these vortices can become superluminal, meaning faster than the speed of light.
“Our discovery reveals universal laws of nature shared by all types of waves, from sound waves and fluid flows to complex systems such as superconductors,” said corresponding author and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology assistant professor Ido Kaminer in a statement. “This breakthrough provides us with a powerful technological tool: the ability to map the motion of delicate nanoscale phenomena in materials, revealed through a new method (electron interferometry) that enhances image sharpness.”
In other words, the latest discovery won’t open the door to warp drives any time soon, but could allow researchers to get an even closer look at the behavior of light itself.
“We believe these innovative microscopy techniques will enable the study of hidden processes in physics, chemistry, and biology, revealing for the first time how nature behaves in its fastest and most elusive moments,” Kaminer explained.
More on superluminal speeds: Physicists Suggest Universe Is Full of Material Moving Faster Than Light