Apparent Superluminal Behavior

Abstract

The apparent superluminal propagation of electromagnetic signals seen in recent experiments is shown to be the result of simple and robust properties of relativistic field equations. Although the wave front of a signal passing through a classically forbidden region can never move faster than light, an attenuated replica of the signal is reproduced ``instantaneously'' on the other side of the barrier. The reconstructed signal, causally connected to the forerunner rather than the bulk of the input signal, appears to move through the barrier faster than light.