Physics question

[Neutrino 47]

Ok, this may seem a bit weird. Here it is anyway...

 

If you were a photon (a particle of light), would you perceive time?

[Scootalove 10,689]

If I was a photon, I'd probably not be able to perceive time unless I can travel at the speed of light.

[Adente 1,000]

Uh.... I'm not really sure how to answer this question. I mean, if I was a photon, I wouldn't be human, would lack a brain and thus not be able to think or perceive anything, including time. But I really have no idea how to answer that question, its just too out in left field for me to really answer definitively. But I'd tentatively say no, if for no other reason than that a photon can't perceive anything, time included, due to a lack of a brain.

[Neutrino 47]

So scootalove, you would say that time wouldn't exist (for you) if you were a photon (traveling at v=c)?

[Neutrino 47]

Fair point Windy. I will rephrase the question.

 

If you rode a photon, would you experience time?

[Scootalove 10,689]

So scootalove, you would say that time wouldn't exist (for you) if you were a photon (traveling at v=c)?

Time exists, but I wouldn't be able to perceive anything. As for the speed, still can't perceive anything.

[FractalMoon 378]

That's an interesting question. Due to the way relativity works, you wouldn't (perceive) time as such. If you were travelling at the speed of light time would appear at a standstill to you, as well as the fact you wouldn't be able to see anything due to the fact that you'd be moving as fast as the light you're trying to see.

[Neutrino 47]

So your saying that if you set of (holding on to this particle), you would already be at your destination.

 

By non-existence, I mean irrelevance.

[RainbowGlass 224]

There certainly is a good question here! 

Time is in a sense a fabric that is "malleable" and is throughout the Universe. So we can consider time a thing to put it into lamer terms because it can be effected by other entity's gravity. As far as the photon is concerned, there is nothing within one to suggest that it can perceive anything. However, I could be wrong for there is no positive way of testing this. Perception, as far as we have known is a biological occurrence and it can be argued AI can "perceive" the world around them as well if advanced enough. Like the android David from the film Prometheus. A photon is neither biological nor an AI of some sort, it is a form of energy. Who knows, but I will guess that a photon cannot perceive time. I hope this helps your thoughts!

 

FUN FACT! 

A photon will bounce around the interior of our Sun for well over a million years before exiting, traveling to Earth and shining ( or impacting) on your face.

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

If my understanding of this is correct:

 

You would still experience time, even if you are moving at a speed near the speed of light. It would be no different from the time we experience here on Earth. What would be different is that what you would experience as one second could be ten thousand years on Earth. It would still be one second for you, and it wouldn't mean that your sense of time is invalid. It's just a different sense of time.

 

However, you have mass, so it is impossible for you to travel at the speed of light. If you were traveling at exactly the speed of light, I think one second for you would be an infinite amount of time on Earth. Likewise, I think that if you could travel faster than the speed of light, you would be traveling back in time relative to the external world. But I could be wrong.

 

So, suppose you're on Alpha Centauri. You ride a photon all the way to Earth, which is a distance of 4.37 lightyears. If you're traveling at the speed of light, you would reach Earth at the same time that we would see you leaving. If you're traveling less than the speed of light, we would see you leave, and then see you arrive after some time. If you're traveling faster than the speed of light, we'd see you arrive, and then we'd see you leave.

 

But for you, the only thing that would change would be the amount of time you'd perceive. If you travel at the speed of light, you would arrive at the same instant that you leave. If you travel slower than the speed of light, it might take a second, a minute, an hour, or however long. If you travel faster than the speed of light, you're guess is as good as mine.

 

Again, I'm not totally sure about all this, but this is the way I understand it. I am an engineering student, not a physics major.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Regulus

[caramba2654 602]

The real question is: If you were traveling at the speed of light, would you be able to see yourself in the mirror? If not, what would you see?

[Neutrino 47]

That's a good addition to the photon debate questions bank that I have in my head. The thing is, if you are a photon, you have already existed... That sounds really weird.

Einstein predicted that objects approaching the speed of light get squashed (to compensate for time dilation), therefore you are not YOU if your v=c, you are a drastically warped version of yourself, not to mention that to achieve that speed you would need infinite mass, so you'd also be a black hole, so then you can say goodbye to everything (not just light).

Damn you complications and abstract properties of the universe!

 

 

And then I wouldn't be seeing light, I'd just be dinkleburging my event horizon.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=X0UBU7HcJsO47AaF_YHgBg&url=http://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DwjRvkPazwAI&cd=6&ved=0CDgQtwIwBQ&usg=AFQjCNECsce7O1k8BCjK9QtCe-UiY3Jpag

[Rift enchanted 380]

Well caramba a side question to ask your side question that may effect your side questions entirely, how long would you stay by the mirror? If you gave light enough time to reflect off of the mirror then you would see yourself but if you just zoomed right past the mirror you wouldn't give light enough time even if you were travelling 100 kmh.

 

Here's my theory on perceiving time. It doesn't matter if your faster than light. You have to be faster than time. In order to do that (I think) you have to travel faster than the earth because the earth travels as it's own time zone. I'm not sure this is how it's work but this is what my mid school brain says.

 

But yeah that's my theory

[Mlpfan185 1,763]

Something was here. Something was here. Something was here. 

Edited October 10, 2018 by NONAME

[Neutrino 47]

Yep, that's right, just shout 'RELATIVITY!' and you already have the right answer. The only difference should be the way you explain it. I quite like sone of these theorys and hypothetical situations. My point was:

If you have a spaceship, and you are not moving (relative to some significant object) that's fine. If you have a spaceship that can reach v=0.999999999999999999999999C, your time is positive and you don't break the universe. If you travel at v=1.1 c, your spaceship has already got there once you achieve v=c. In fact, if your destination is infinity, you are already there. And for FTL travel, look at the post Regulus made. Because time and space is the same thing (pretty much) at v=c your time is zero and your distance is infinity.

 

Look at other mathematical correlations between 0/n. The answer is infinity, no matter what n is. If you ignore certain principles, you can see a pattern. Look:

The smaller number you divide by, the larger number the outcome is. Example- 10/0.1=100, 10/0.01=1000, 33/0.007=~4700, 33/0.07=~470 (I think... Who needs a calculator? This is theory!)

The larger number you devise by, the smaller the outcome.

Therefore if you devise by the smallest number, you get the largest possible answer. Damn. Maths telling us how the universe works. DYK, Einstein proved the existence of atoms with math? How? I don't know.