[HPforGrownups] Re: Apparating and the Theory of Relativity OR Dimensional Travel.

[No Limberger]

No: HPFGUIDX 185958

Ken Adams wrote:
> 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.

Eggplant wrote:
> Just a few days ago in the January 23 2009 issue of the journal
> "Science" it was announced that an atom of ytterbium was teleported,
> apparition style, for a distance of one meter. They accomplished this
> feat by destroying the quantum state of one atom and reestablishing
> the exact same state (complete with quantum entanglements and anything
> else you care to name) in a ytterbium atom one meter away. It was not
> literally instantaneous but close to it because it happened at the
> speed of light.

>From reading about the ytterbium experiment, what was teleported was quantum
state information from one ytterbium atom to another ytterbium atom.  While
this works well for information transfer (and is being viewed as a possible
means of creating a quantum computer), I don't think that this would be the
same as transporting matter from one location to another.  Apparition as
presented in "Harry Potter" (or the transporter in "Star Trek") involves the
transfer of matter and information from one location to another.  While it's
safe to assume that the process would probably be limited to be no faster
than the speed of light, the mechanics, in my opinion, would probably
involve something more similar to the creation of a temporary wormhole (or
inter-dimensional doorway) that would permit matter and information to pass
through undamaged.  I read something similar about similar experiments a few
years ago as part of a discussion about how the "Star Trek" transporter
might work.  In that discussion, some people advocated that the matter
placed within the transporter would be destroyed after a copy is created at
the destination.  A question that then arises is what exactly is the copy:
would it be the actual person that has been transported or would it be
something more similar to a clone with memories downloaded into it?  At that
point, it becomes a metaphysical discussion with no simple answers.  For me,
if apparition (or flue-powder) involves destroying the original person in
order to be magically transported to a different location, I'd use a broom.

tinroof.rusted


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