Imagine you are as small as a photon. So small you can hitch a ride on it. You travel at the same rate as it.
If you traveled from one end of the universe to the other, no time would have elapsed for you. But the universe would have existed for 13.8 billion years. Is it therefore possible that light can traverse great distances in no local time? Instantaneously from our perspective? Just a question. Not an assertion. Not even a proposal.
I meant to say instantaneously from “our” perspective, meaning the light riders (our) perspective. Not the outside observer of the universe perspective. Sorry about that. Just a question.
> If you traveled from one end of the universe to the other, no time would have elapsed for you. But the universe would have existed for 13.8 billion years. <
I believe that is correct. It would have taken no time for that photon. And the distance it travelled would also have been zero, from its point of view.
But here’s the thing. Einstein said that an object gains relativistic mass as it speeds up. So an object with mass (like you) would have a huge mass as it approached the speed of light. You could never reach the speed of light (as a photon could) because there would not be enough energy in the universe to get you to that speed.
That’s the way I was taught. But then again I’ve never received a Nobel Prize in Physics. So what do I know?