Article Posted on : - Oct 14, 2011

HYDERABAD (PTI): More experimentation is needed on nuclear particle Neutrino to verify if its speed can exceed that of light, a leading scientist has said.

Findings by European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) on neutrinos show that the particle can exceed the speed of light, thus debunking Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the bedrock of Physics for more than a century.

New experiments by CERN have revealed that the theory may have to be reviewed and modified.

Birla Science Centre Director Siddharth said the scientific community was waiting for new experimentation to be carried out, as a similar result observed in 2007 in the USA was later dismissed as "erroneous". Scientists are now performing the experiment again and Fermi National Laboratory in Chicago is working on this, he said.

"Why the findings of CERN result may be correct after all is because of my own theoretical work for more than a decade has shown that Einstein's theory would require modification," he said.

He said that if the theory about existence of faster than light particles is proved correct, then it would have many implications for Physics.

"It would mean that the energy we get from nuclear reactor would be enhanced and existing models of particles will have to be changed," he said.