Re: SCI: slow light

KPJ (kpj@sics.se)
Wed, 24 Feb 1999 22:11:59 +0100

KPJ <kpj@sics.se> wrote:
|If ``we'' could create a specific matter/space configuration with less
|density than vacuum, then ``we'' would need to update the theory to
|handle this new case, as it probably would allow for FTL motion.
|As far as I know, nobody has discovered such a case yet.
|Therefore, currently it appears as if nothing can move faster than c.

It appears as if Andrew Trapp <dreamer-71@geocities.com> wrote:
|
|Ah, but we CAN create regions of space-time with less density than
|"normal" vacuum. Ever hear of the Casimir effect?

Affirmative. The theory appears to have some problems, though.

The theory predicts that the total zero point energy in the vacuum to be infinite when summed over all the possible photon modes. The energy of the vacuum should act gravitationally and produce a large cosmological constant which would cause space-time to curl up.

Anybody cleared up this inconsistency yet?