Field signature for apparently superluminal particle motion

TL;DR

This paper investigates a theoretical mechanism within Stueckelberg's covariant mechanics that could explain apparent superluminal particle motion through subtle perturbations affecting recorded times, and proposes a way to detect such effects via electromagnetic signatures.

Contribution

It derives the electromagnetic field signatures associated with superluminal-like trajectories, providing a novel test for the proposed mechanism without direct trajectory observation.

Findings

Derived Maxwell 4-vector potential for the proposed trajectory

Identified electromagnetic signatures indicative of superluminal motion

Provided an independent test for the superluminal mechanism

Abstract

In the context of Stueckelberg's covariant symplectic mechanics, Horwitz and Aharonovich have proposed a simple mechanism by which a particle traveling below light speed almost everywhere may exhibit a transit time that suggests superluminal motion. This mechanism, which requires precise measurement of the particle velocity, involves a subtle perturbation affecting the particle's recorded time coordinate caused by virtual pair processes. The Stueckelberg framework is particularly well suited to such problems, because it permits pair creation/annihilation at the classical level. In this paper, we study a trajectory of the type proposed by Horwitz and Aharonovich, and derive the Maxwell 4-vector potential associated with the motion. We show that the resulting fields carry a signature associated with the apparent superluminal motion, providing an independent test for the mechanism that does not require direct observation of the trajectory, except at the detector.