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Superluminal Signaling and Relativity

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Abstract

Special relativity is said to prohibit faster-than-light (superluminal) signaling, yet controversy regularly arises as to whether this or that physical phenomenon violates the prohibition. I argue that the controversy is a result of a lack of clarity as to what it means to ‘signal’, and I propose a criterion. I show that according to this criterion, superluminal signaling is not prohibited by special relativity.

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  1. Department of Philosophy, Dartmouth College, 6035 Thornton, NH, 03755, Hanover, U.S.A.

    Steven Weinstein

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  1. Steven Weinstein
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Correspondence to Steven Weinstein.

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Weinstein, S. Superluminal Signaling and Relativity. Synthese 148, 381–399 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-004-6231-5

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