[Robert Wood]

Robert Wood asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Is it possible that light (energy) is able to travel billions of light years through space without dissipating because at the speed of light time has stopped?  According to Einstein's theory, the faster something travels, time slows incrementally until the speed of light is attained, at which point time stops.

This would explain how energy (light) can appear to violate the laws of thermodynamics.
What do you think?

[yor_on]

Not really,the definition of light is that it has no frame of rest. Whether it age is a moot point, unless someone can prove it experimentally. We expect light to reach us from the origin of a photon universe some 13-14 billions lightyears ago.

[nilak]

Robert Wood asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Is it possible that light (energy) is able to travel billions of light years through space without dissipating because at the speed of light time has stopped? 

It is not dissipating because of the propagation mechanics. The E and B fields are perpendicular to each other and propagation is perpendicular to the B and E plane.
The pulse propagates in a straight line if there is nothing to alter its path but if there are obstacles in the way like dust it can loose energy.
If has nothing to do with slowing down time.

[geordief]

Robert Wood asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Is it possible that light (energy) is able to travel billions of light years through space without dissipating because at the speed of light time has stopped? 

It is not dissipating because of the propagation mechanics. The E and B fields are perpendicular to each other and propagation is perpendicular to the B and E plane.
The pulse propagates in a straight line if there is nothing to alter its path but if there are obstacles in the way like dust it can loose energy.
If has nothing to do with slowing down time.

Can the wave travel at less than c in a medium?

If so , can this wave interact with anything in such a way as to provide  an observe with a physical representation of  this wave ? Or does the whole  wave collapse as soon as  there is the slightest  detection even when the speed of propagation is slower than c ?

Am I  right that there is one photon per wave  ? (and vice versa)

[zx16]

If light didn't slow down in a medium, such as the gelatin in your eyeballs, you wouldn't even be reading this!

[geordief]

If light didn't slow down in a medium, such as the gelatin in your eyeballs, you wouldn't even be reading this!

I wasn't sure because I had read that a photon always travels at c and that its apparent slowness in a medium was caused by  its many interactions  with the medium  but that "between stops",as it were it only travelled at c.

Every time it  interacted with  the medium that took time and so  overall it could be said to have slowed down ..


How much does gelatin in the eye slow down the light?


EDIT: thanks to admin for   turning on the formatting

[yor_on]

What is slow is electrochemical reactions, that's not about 'c'.

[Yahya]

how light will be able to speed up in vacuum after being slower in glass?

[geordief]

how light will be able to speed up in vacuum after being slower in glass?

I think it stops ,rather than slows down for the duration of any interaction with the medium  but moves again at c "between interactions"

At any stage its speed is either  zero or c -never in between those quantities.

If I  am right.

[nilak]

Robert Wood asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Is it possible that light (energy) is able to travel billions of light years through space without dissipating because at the speed of light time has stopped? 

It is not dissipating because of the propagation mechanics. The E and B fields are perpendicular to each other and propagation is perpendicular to the B and E plane.
The pulse propagates in a straight line if there is nothing to alter its path but if there are obstacles in the way like dust it can loose energy.
If has nothing to do with slowing down time.

Can the wave travel at less than c in a medium?

If so , can this wave interact with anything in such a way as to provide  an observe with a physical representation of  this wave ? Or does the whole  wave collapse as soon as  there is the slightest  detection even when the speed of propagation is slower than c ?

Am I  right that there is one photon per wave  ? (and vice versa)

It is impossible to observe the the light wave because the propagation of the excitation in the electromagnetic field is always at c. Only changing its trajectory, like making it to describe a helix or zigzagging  can create the appearance of slowing it down.
This is the mechanism that enables any particle to appear to slow down, because they are alse composed of EM fields.
E and H fields cross product gives the arrow of time in the universe.
The particle description  is only personal opinion based on my paper:
http://vixra.org/abs/1612.0239