[ad_1]
It has always been known that Santa Claus used the best technology and the most advanced science to make the seemingly impossible happen – delivering so many gifts to children around the world in one night.
But one question has always bothered top scientists: How the heck do you visit all those different places in such a short period of time?
As that magical time of year approaches when Santa will set out on his merry way, that familiar question arises once again, but scientists at Trinity College Dublin have shed new light on how it is made possible.
In the minds of many skeptics, Santa seems to defy the laws of physics. But for quantum physicists there is no problem. The most modern theory, according to Professor John Goold and Dr. Mark Mitchison, based at the TCD school of physics, is that Santa Claus is indeed exploiting quantum mechanics to deliver the gifts, and there is much to suggest that this is the case.
Simply put, quantum mechanics allows objects, including Santa, Rudolph, and co, to be in many places simultaneously. That is the key ingredient, which enables its extraordinarily efficient delivery on Christmas Eve.
Quantum physics describes the basic building blocks of the things we can see around us. It explains almost everything we understand about the world: how the sun shines, why metal looks and feels different than plastic or wood, and many other things.
But quantum physics also makes some strange predictions, starting with the fact that objects can be in “superposition,” meaning that they exist in many different places at the same time.
Professor Goold explains: “Experiments show that these strange states describe small things, like atoms, but also much larger things. In fact, an important part of our job as physicists is trying to put larger and larger objects in overlays, which we believe will help us build ultra-fast computers and a more secure Internet in the future. But we still haven’t learned to do as well as Santa! “
For quantum physicists, he says, there is now little doubt that Santa is exploiting “what we know as ‘macroscopic quantum coherence,’ which is precisely the same resource that cutting-edge quantum technologies use to outperform technologies based on classical physics. ”.
Einstein vs Santa
Historically, the idea that an object can be in a macroscopic superposition has generated controversy. In fact, many scientists over the years have wondered if quantum physics can really be true. Probably the most famous critic was Albert Einstein, who helped discover quantum physics more than 100 years ago, but then spent the rest of his life arguing that it was incomplete.
However, an intriguing rumor circulating since Einstein’s time is that he hated Christmas (basically, the rumor, which may or may not have originated from the North Pole, implies that he was a Grinch who did not like Santa Claus). Even after sparking a revolution in physics and establishing himself as the smartest man in history, Einstein was still not as famous as Santa, notes Professor Goold.
Green with envy, some believe that Einstein tried to discredit Santa by arguing that quantum overlays were impossible so that no one could visit every child in the world in one night. Today, scientists do not take Einstein’s ideas on quantum physics seriously and it is widely accepted that overlays are real, along with Santa Claus.
Even if we agree that Santa uses quantum physics to bring gifts to all the world’s children on the same night, we still don’t understand exactly how he does it, scientists admit.
“When we look at a quantum object, we only find it in one place at a time. This tells us that overlays are very brittle. Just looking at them, they ‘collapse’, which means the object ends up in one place and all other possibilities disappear, ”adds Dr. Mitchison.
“We are pretty sure that Santa has developed some advanced technology to protect his quantum overlay and prevent such a collapse from ruining Christmas. But, just in case, we advise children around the world to go to bed early on Christmas Eve and suggest that they do not try to watch it and risk collapsing their joyous overlap. “
