Cherenkov radiation in a nuclear reactor
About the accuracy of the physics
Quantum mechanics is brought in front of people the world what is smaller than atoms. In that world the things that the speed of light in air is 1,0003% or 90 m/s slower than it's in a vacuum mean very much. In normal life, there is no mean. But in the quantum world, even the small errors have a big effect.
So in a vacuum is impossible to cross the speed of light, but in nuclear reactors, it happens every day. And that thing is visible as the blue shine, what is called Cherenkov radiation. In a nuclear reactor, the neutrons will cross the speed of light in a very short moment because the neutron will cross the speed of the light in the water when it touches water.
When nuclear fuel releases the neutron. It travels at a higher speed than the speed of light is in water. When neutron slows it sends the blue light shockwave that is calling Cherenkov radiation. The reason that particle sends Cherenkov radiation is that neutron must release its energy when it travels in a medium, where the speed of light is slower than its speed.
Theories of Special and General Relativity are correct mostly, says the new tests. That means there are no remarkable errors in Einstein's theories. And that word "remarkable" is one of the most interesting things in the world.
The thing is that the speed of the light in the atmosphere is lower than in a vacuum. And in water, the speed of light is 225 000 000 m/s what lower than in the vacuum, where it is 299 792 458 m/s. When we are thinking about the Michelson-Morley experiment. We must realize that the speed of light is measured in the atmosphere. That means the light traveled in gas. The thing is that the speed of the light depending on the medium, so it is constant.
But that constant depends on the space, where the light travels. So the speed of light is always the same when it travels in a vacuum, water, or glass. But the medium of the material determines the constant. And that thing means. That we should talk about the speed of the light as the constant in the medium like glass. So if the speed of light depends on the medium, we can say that is not stable.
Or what comes first if photon, electron, and car drop in the black hole? Because gravity affects all particles in the universe in the same way. That means that all of those objects are dropping into the black hole at the same speed. The gravity fields are things that are affecting the movement of photons. And that thing makes the gravity lenses possible.
Because gravity fields are affecting the vertical trajectories of photons. That means the gravity field must affect also horizontal trajectories of photons. And the black holes are pulling the photons inside it, should we say that the speed of light is not stable.
And in these kinds of cases we must ask should we start to make the changes in the things like Theory of Special Relativity, what are the principles of physics. So another way to think we must realize is. In the theoretical universe, there are no gas and gravity fields. The speed of the photon might not be what the measurements show.
The fact is that there is no vacuum in the universe. The real universe is full of gas clouds, gravity centers, and magnetic fields that are affecting the speed and trajectories of photons. That means that we should adjust the theories.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation
https://www.desy.de/user/projects/Physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/speed_of_light.html
https://www.olympus-lifescience.com/en/microscope-resource/primer/lightandcolor/speedoflight/
https://scitechdaily.com/testing-whether-einsteins-theory-of-general-relativity-is-right-with-a-record-breaking-laser-link/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_speed_of_light
Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation
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