What are tachyons?

[PowerMacG5]

Bump, you said it pretty much perfectly.

 

[Reel]

Originally posted by: Sahakiel

Originally posted by: KraziKid
Neutrinos are tardons (sub-light speed particles). They move slower than the speed of light. It takes light 8 minutes to reach Earth, and the neutrinos are not far behind. They do not vanish as quickly as you think, they actually can last for a while. The ones that vanish quickly are the one we produce in particle accelerators.

The reason neutrinos last the whole eight minutes or so of space flight is because they're moving so fast. I wouldn't be surprised if they make it to Jupiter or beyond.
The reason neutrinos in particle accelerators don't last as long is because, well, they're not moving that fast.
Can you figure out why?

As usual, my input is nothing definite but I will offer perhaps the special relativity formula. I remember working through in physics to discover that through time dilation that a particle travelling near the speed of light will last longer in that frame of reference but my understanding of that was a little vague.

But I will expand upon the question raised and make it: why do any particles not last long? I understand the simple answer, "they are unstable", but I am looking for something more technical.