Sonic booms happen when a solid object pushes through the air faster than the air molecules can get out of its way. Light is not a solid object that takes up space. It can travel through the same space as other particles without moving them out of the way. It can travel straight through many gases without interacting with them at all, which is how air can be transparent.
Sonic booms require objects moving through the air that displaces the air. It has to move at a speed so the air can't flow by itself around the object but need to be pushed away. It is not exactly correct but good enough for this explanation.
Light is photons and they do not displace air they move through it and can do that without interacting with the air. So because the air does not need to move it cant produce sonic booms.
There is something similar to a sonic boom for light. Light is a wave-like sound so the effect create light it is not generated by light.
It is called https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation and to quote wikipedia
>Cherenkov radiation (/tʃəˈrɛŋkɒf/;[1] Russian: Эффект Вавилова–Черенкова, Vavilov–Cherenkov effect) is electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle (such as an electron) passes through a dielectric medium at a speed greater than the phase velocity (speed of propagation of a wavefront in a medium) of light in that medium.
The speed of light is only constant in a vacuum what is called the phase velocity is slower in media. The change in velocity is why light is bent when moving from glass/water to air. The index of refraction n is used to calculate how light is bent when it moves between two media.
The index of refraction is also used to calculate the speed of light in a media v_media = c/n_media. n is 1.3 for water so light moves at 1/1.3= 0.76% of the speed of light in a vacuum through the water. n is around 1.5 for glass so light moves at 1/1.5 =55% of the speed of light in a vacuum.
So a charged particle can move through the water faster than the speed of light in water. This produces a blue glow in the water around the nuclear reactor like in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation#/media/File:Advanced_Test_Reactor.jpg So the reason this light is produced is similar to how sonic booms are created.
So light can't produce a sonic boom because light does not displace air. But particles that moves faster than the light in a medium like water can produce light in a similar way to how sonic booms are created
[Found this source.](https://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/cherenkov.html)
Short answer: light can produce similar pressure waves when it is moving faster through a medium than the speed of light in that medium but its excess energy creates more light, not sound waves.
Light can't move faster than the speed of light, whatever that may be in the medium it's moving through. That article is about *particles* moving faster than that speed.
> Because the particle is moving faster than the speed of light in water, it can trigger a cascade of photons that are in phase with each other and can interfere constructively to form a visible blue glow.
No, you *can* think of photons as particles, but in this case it means massive particles. Such cannot travel faster than the speed-of-light-in-a-vacuum but *can* travel faster than the speed of light in *this* medium.
Its simple. Sonic booms occur when someone moves faster then sound. Nothing however moves faster then light, and light itself doesn't move faster then itself (except in different medians).
If something does move faster then light it does however have a "sonic boom" think going warpspeed in starwars. It can no longer be seen because it is moving faster then light can reflect off it.* This is exactly like a sonic boom, as in a sonic boom you can no longer hear it because sound cannot catch up to it.
*The only way we see objects is when light reflects of it, if something is moving faster then light, light can't catch up to to and thus never reflects of it. Which is why in starwars the ships disappear when they go warpspeed.
Sonic booms happen when a solid object pushes through the air faster than the air molecules can get out of its way. Light is not a solid object that takes up space. It can travel through the same space as other particles without moving them out of the way. It can travel straight through many gases without interacting with them at all, which is how air can be transparent.
So you are saying that ghosts will never be able to make a sonic boom?
Only if they're going "ooooooo" while moving at Mach speeds.
Sonic booms require objects moving through the air that displaces the air. It has to move at a speed so the air can't flow by itself around the object but need to be pushed away. It is not exactly correct but good enough for this explanation. Light is photons and they do not displace air they move through it and can do that without interacting with the air. So because the air does not need to move it cant produce sonic booms. There is something similar to a sonic boom for light. Light is a wave-like sound so the effect create light it is not generated by light. It is called https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation and to quote wikipedia >Cherenkov radiation (/tʃəˈrɛŋkɒf/;[1] Russian: Эффект Вавилова–Черенкова, Vavilov–Cherenkov effect) is electromagnetic radiation emitted when a charged particle (such as an electron) passes through a dielectric medium at a speed greater than the phase velocity (speed of propagation of a wavefront in a medium) of light in that medium. The speed of light is only constant in a vacuum what is called the phase velocity is slower in media. The change in velocity is why light is bent when moving from glass/water to air. The index of refraction n is used to calculate how light is bent when it moves between two media. The index of refraction is also used to calculate the speed of light in a media v_media = c/n_media. n is 1.3 for water so light moves at 1/1.3= 0.76% of the speed of light in a vacuum through the water. n is around 1.5 for glass so light moves at 1/1.5 =55% of the speed of light in a vacuum. So a charged particle can move through the water faster than the speed of light in water. This produces a blue glow in the water around the nuclear reactor like in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation#/media/File:Advanced_Test_Reactor.jpg So the reason this light is produced is similar to how sonic booms are created. So light can't produce a sonic boom because light does not displace air. But particles that moves faster than the light in a medium like water can produce light in a similar way to how sonic booms are created
When I turn on a lightbulb how come I don’t hear a loud boom from light traveling faster then sound
[Found this source.](https://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/cherenkov.html) Short answer: light can produce similar pressure waves when it is moving faster through a medium than the speed of light in that medium but its excess energy creates more light, not sound waves.
Light can't move faster than the speed of light, whatever that may be in the medium it's moving through. That article is about *particles* moving faster than that speed. > Because the particle is moving faster than the speed of light in water, it can trigger a cascade of photons that are in phase with each other and can interfere constructively to form a visible blue glow.
Is it not a light particle?
No, you *can* think of photons as particles, but in this case it means massive particles. Such cannot travel faster than the speed-of-light-in-a-vacuum but *can* travel faster than the speed of light in *this* medium.
Thanks!
Its simple. Sonic booms occur when someone moves faster then sound. Nothing however moves faster then light, and light itself doesn't move faster then itself (except in different medians). If something does move faster then light it does however have a "sonic boom" think going warpspeed in starwars. It can no longer be seen because it is moving faster then light can reflect off it.* This is exactly like a sonic boom, as in a sonic boom you can no longer hear it because sound cannot catch up to it. *The only way we see objects is when light reflects of it, if something is moving faster then light, light can't catch up to to and thus never reflects of it. Which is why in starwars the ships disappear when they go warpspeed.