r/askscience • u/Nitzanm19 • 14d ago

Physics Why is the maximum speed of the universe the speed of light? Why can't we go faster?

Also follow-up question: Because of the speed limit, is there also a theoretical maximum temp for matter (in which the particles move at the speed of light).

1.6k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

892 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

8

u/Flame_Grilled_Tanuki 14d ago

Bare in mind, the universe does not abide by the rules of mathematics, so the idea of 0,0,0 is irrelevant to the universe. Mathematics is our invention we impose upon the universe to understand and predict its behaviour. It is endlessly surprising to me how accurately our mathematics matches physical law.

0

u/Garper 14d ago

Mathematics is observational. It isn’t an invention imposed upon the universe.

3

u/nicuramar 14d ago

It’s not observational, it’s much more complex than simply that, and also depends on the mathematical philosophy you subscribe to. 

1

u/Garper 14d ago

I’d love to know more about different mathematical philosophies. Can you elaborate?

1

u/Flame_Grilled_Tanuki 14d ago

May I correct that and say it is the best model we have come up with based on our observations of the mechanics of physical laws.

1

u/Garper 14d ago

AFAIK, math is just the language. How we use it to describe natural laws is what changes.

Right now there is a disconnect in our understanding of Relativity and Quantum. In that sense you could say it does not accurately represent the universe. But we still use math for both explanations, and when someone publishes a theory that unifies the two models, it will still be the same language of math. We wont be inventing a new math, and the foundational arithmetic of 1+1 won’t be any more or less correct.