Here is my theory as to why neutrinos are apparently travelling faster than the speed of light.
Imagine measuring the position of the boats in the Oxford v Cambridge boat race by water displacement rather than optically. The arriving boats have a bow wave which is a few centimetres in front of the boat. Measuring this would give an apparently faster boat.
Neutrinos leaving the Cern collider have been travelling in a cold vacuum and are measured leaving Cern accurately. After travelling through the earth they have built up the equivalent of a bow wave and are measured arriving early.
Neutrinos travelling through space have no medium in which to create a bow wave so are seen arriving at the same time as light.
The theory can be tested by using a detector at a different distance from Cern and the result would show the same 60ns 'early' arrival.
It would also be an indicator if the detectors are not measuring the neutrinos directly, rather a side effect of their positions.
(c) Antony Pace 3 October 2011 7:30am UK time
