It is during this special time of year that children look to the skies, listening for sleigh bells, eager for the bright red glow of Rudolph’s nose. Many doubters out there may slander Santa Claus as a myth, a child’s fantasy, a hope for those young enough to still believe in magic. But what if I told you that Santa is, in fact, real – just on the quantum mechanical level?
Consider the double-slit experiment. The double-slit experiment demonstrates that light and, more importantly for our discussion, matter can satisfy the seemingly incongruous classical definitions for both waves and particles, which is considered evidence for the fundamentally probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics. The experiment, first performed by Thomas Young in 1801 to demonstrate the wave behavior of visible light, showed that light could behave as either waves or particles. Incredibly, in 1927, Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer and, independently, George Paget Thomson and Alexander Reid, showed that electrons exhibit the exact same behavior.
The experiment proceeds as thus – a beam of electrons is projected out towards a wall that contains two slits. If the electrons behave as particles, they will pass through the slits and create two individual grouping patterns on the opposing wall. If, however, the electrons behave as waves, like a pebble dropped in a pond, the waves would ripple outwards, creating an interference pattern on the opposing wall shown in the image below.
Incredibly, when there was no detector placed before the slits, the electrons behaved as waves. However, when a detector was placed before the slits to observe the electrons before they passed through, they produced the particle pattern. The mere act of observation changed the nature of the electrons themselves.
What does all of this have to do with Santa Claus, you ask? Well, let us extrapolate these same properties to Jolly Ol’ St. Nick. When unobserved, Santa is free to behave as a particle – delivering presents and munching on cookies. This is why it is crucial that all occupants of a home remain asleep, so he cannot be observed within their walls and is able to become concrete matter. But once observed, either by an awakened child or the trained NORAD sensors, the nature of Santa changes into a wave, allowing him to travel not as particle matter but faster as a wave—perhaps even allowing him to move close to the speed of light! Which, of course, is what allows him to travel the whole world in one night.
Be ye child or child at heart, the story of Santa reminds us that the nature of Christmas is in the giving. Will you be observed in sharing the Christmas spirit this year?