Apparating and the Theory of Relativity OR Dimensional Travel

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 185902

---  KEN ADAMS <kenadams705 at ...> wrote:
>
> Alla:
> <SNIP>
> I mean, I know very little about theory of relativity besides
> general definition, so can somebody with more scientific mind
> explain to me how the Apparating is not in contradiction with
> it?
> 
> KEN:
> ...
> It seems to me that apparition involves the disappearance from
> one place and the instantaneous appearance somewhere else. ...
> This means that speeds must be close to those of light. From 
>what I know of the theory of relativity which is very incomplete,
> to be generous. This is impossible.
>
> KEN
>

bboyminn:

Ah...but that is the flaw in your thinking, the belief that it
happens instantaneously. I does not. When Harry Apparates, he
perceives time passing. Because you can't seem to breath 
while apparating, there is a time and distance limit to it
based on how long you can hold your breath.

When Harry Side-Along Apparates with Dumbledore, it seems a 
few times that he is at the limit of how long he can hold his
breath. So, I estimate that you can Apparate at a speed of
about 300 miles per minute, which is a mere 18,000 mile per
hour in real time. OK, that's fast, but it is not any where
near the speed of light. 

Notice other magical means of transportation also have the
perception of time. When they portkey to the World Cup,
Harry describes the sensation and the clear passage of time.
In this case, I estimate about the same speed; 300 miles
per minute. Though the sense of suffocation isn't there.

In the Floo Network, Harry has time to see fireplaces passing
by, so clearly time passes. Again, I'm thinking roughly
300 miles per minute. (Just a guess.)

Brooms seem to fly in real time. But given the description
of the Firebolt going zero to 100 mph in about 7 seconds, I
estimate a top speed of 150 mph or possibly more. Though
not supported by the books, I've speculated that brooms have
some type of wind screen charm to control the wind when 
riding. Perhaps a small cone in front of the broom that
expands as speed increases. Still it would be like the 
windscreen on a motorcycle, it would help block the wind
but not stop it completely. So, you would still have the
sensation of wind, speed, and cold. 

Next we have the Thestrals. They seem to fly at normal speed,
but they got to London from Hogwarts awefully fast; not super
fast, but faster than real time.  

So, how does magic transport actually work? 

For Apparation, the Worm Hole idea might have some merit. 
Whether you believe in worm holes or not, and whether you
understand them or not, science theoretically recognizes that
they can exist and that they might work as described. 

The magic is not that worm holes exist, but that you can
create one spontaneously by nothing more than force of will. 

But I prefer a dimensional aspect to magical travel because it
explains all forms of travel. Multiple dimensions is also a
scientific theory that speculates that likely there are many
parallel dimensions to our own. So, I speculate that there is a
magical dimension or magical domain, and all magic is, is the
ability to draw from that other dimension.

When you Apparate, Portkey, or Floo, you are drawing on the
power of and perhaps even traveling fully or partly within 
the magical dimension. Keep in mind, that other dimension 
aren't necessarily in some other place. Some speculate that
they are all around us. That other dimensions are merged with 
our own, uniformly dispersed through the world we know. Yet
we don't see them because, that are time and space shifted 
from our own dimension. 

I speculate this is also how Therstral fly in apparent real
time, yet travel faster than real time. By natural instinctual
magic, Thestrals, several times a second, draw on the magical
dimension, perhaps even pass into it, and in those magical
time slices, fly faster than is physically possible. To the
naked eye, we do not see this slipping in and out of the 
magical domain, yet the result is much faster than real
time travel. Because of magic, there is a difference between
apparent speed and actual speed; actual speed being 
substantially higher that apparent speed.

Though, not a lot faster. Part of their travel is still truly
in real time. In this case, I'm guessing 300 to 500 mph at 
full speed. However, because there is no perception of the
magical domain as you travel though it, the apparent speed to
the rider is probably 80 to 100 mph top speed. 

Again, it doesn't matter that you understand worm holes or
dimensional travel, only know that science has predicted that
these things might be possible. 

Personally, I favor dimensional or domain shift travel over
worm holes.

Steve/bluewizard