9.2 Using a Special Field/Space/etc. (W/o Special Provisions) (Relativity and FTL Travel)
Description
This article is from the Relativity and FTL Travel FAQ, by Jason W. Hinson jason@physicsguy.com with numerous contributions by others.
9.2 Using a Special Field/Space/etc. (W/o Special Provisions) (Relativity and FTL Travel)
This next concept is often found in FTL travel methods of science
fiction. The basic idea is that a ship (for example) can use a special field
or travel in another space/dimension in order to "leave" the physics of our
universe and thus not be limited by the speed of light.
Again, we see that this concept is basically designed to get around the
light speed barrier problem; however, it doesn't deal very well with the
problem of producing unsolvable paradoxes.
Though the FTL observer or signal which travels using this concept
would leave the realm of our physics, the relationship between two observers
(like O and Op) who stayed behind (within the realm of our physics) would
not be effected. This means (if you recall the points made earlier about the
"second problem") that the arguments for producing an unsolvable paradox
must still hold (unless there are special provisions), because those
arguments were based on the relationship between the two observers who
themselves never traveled FTL (and thus never left the realm of our
physics).
Thus, we very quickly see that with any such methods (as long as no
special provisions apply) one can produce an unsolvable paradox.
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