superluminal adj.

having or being a speed greater than that of light; (also) designating an engine, etc., that can produce such a speed

Science

Propulsion

FTL

  • 1959 K. R. Popper Logic of Scientific Discovery ix. 236

    Saying that they are ‘spread with super-luminal velocity’ is about as helpful as saying that twice two turns with super-luminal velocity into four.

  • 1969 I. Asimov in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction Dec. 103 page image Isaac Asimov

    An imaginary mass has no physical significance in our own subluminal Universe, so it has long been customary to dismiss superluminal velocities at once, and say that faster-than-light particles are impossible because there can be no such thing as an imaginary mass.

  • 1990 P. Anderson Inconstant Star in L. Niven et al. Man-Kzin Wars III (1992) v. 204 Poul Anderson bibliography

    A warcraft of the Raptor class, lately modified to accommodate a superluminal drive, it moved faster than most, agilely responsive to he thrust of its gravity polarizers.

  • 2001 Analog Sept. 44/2

    Don’t start drawing up blueprints for that time machine just yet, though; even though these experiments in superluminal propagation aren’t completely understood, it’s generally acknowledged that they don’t violate causality.

  • 2005 P. F. Hamilton Judas Unchained xi. 539 Peter F. Hamilton

    There had been no warning of its existence, no detectable superluminal quantum distortion waves which were the signature of human ships and missiles.


Research requirements

antedating 1959

Earliest cite

K. R. Popper 'Logic of Scientific Discovery'

Last modified 2021-01-11 23:51:47
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.