How does Santa do it all? Quantum physics, that's how, says scientist

To deliver that many presents, Santa Claus would be burned up at the sheer speed he would need to hit. But there is a way it's possible, one physicist has calculated. This theory also explains why Santa Claus is never seen. Munich (dpa) – Every year, Santa Claus races around the globe in a matter of hours to bring presents to children all over the world. This is how countless films and stories describe it – but scientists have always enjoyed calculating why this is actually impossible. Now, a physicist in Germany says Christmas does not have to be cancelled after all: All Santa needs to do is make use of modern quantum physics, Metin Tolan. For the calculations, the existence of Santa Claus is assumed to be certain, "because the whole world simply cannot be wrong," writes Tolan in a German-language book that translates as "Silent Night, Hasty Night." He recalls one of the first recorded stories in which the existence of Santa Claus was questioned: in 1897, 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun with the words: "Please tell me the truth: is there a Santa Claus?' Air Force instead of Santa Claus Yes, was the response, couched in many poetic words – which is still one of the most frequently reprinted articles in English-language newspapers today. Another event in the US continues to have an impact to this day: On Christmas Eve 1955, the US Air Defence red telephone rang. Harry Shoup, a colonel in the United States Air Force, answered the phone, expecting an emergency – and a little girl asked: "Are you really Santa Claus?" Numerous other calls followed. A mail order company had published what it believed to be Santa Claus's number – but it was actually the Air Force's top-secret emergency number. "The colonel proved that he was also in control of this special situation and assigned a few men to answer the children's questions," the book says. This event is the basis for the tradition of the North American Aerospace Defence Command NORAD announcing Santa Claus's position every year. The project called NORAD Tracks Santa and can be viewed at www.noradsanta.org. 2,708 visits per second – is that possible? Tolan calculates how many households Santa Claus would have to visit according to a study on Christmas films – assuming that he only delivers to Christian children up to the age of 10 who have been good during the year. In 24 hours, he would have to make 2,708 visits per second to reach 234 million households. If he flew against the Earth's rotation, he would have a total of 32 hours – and thus "only" about 2,000 visits per second to complete. That is 40 times higher than the maximum frame rate that a human being can see – which is why we have no chance of observing him at work. However, Santa Claus would be dead anyway – burned up and crushed, as Tolan explains. He would have to cover a total distance of about 82 million kilometres with a sleigh weighing well over 200,000 tons, if every child received only one gift weighing about 1 kilogram. Reindeer after reindeer would incinerate To accelerate the sleigh to the required speed, Santa Claus would need more than six times the amount of energy consumed in Germany in an entire year, Tolan calculates. He explains the conditions under which one reindeer after another and then Santa Claus and his sleigh would evaporate in a fraction of a second, and why flying around corners also poses deadly risks. But survival is possible if quantum theory and the so-called energy-time uncertainty principle come into play, Tolan says. Quantum theory states that matter also has wave properties. "For Santa Claus, this means that he must be replaced by a matter wave that exists throughout space and describes all the states he can occupy at the same time." Instead of one Santa Claus, there is a whole Santa Claus wave consisting of superpositions of all his states. Quantum theory requires a radically different way of thinking "These individual states are then given by the fact that he delivers his presents to a specific house in each case." Santa Claus is therefore in all houses at the same time. Delivery, according to the rules of quantum theory, makes it impossible for Santa Claus to ever be seen, Tolan writes. A sighting would immediately lead to the collapse of the Santa Claus wave at that location – and thus to the end of the Santa Claus story.The theory of the Santa Claus wave ensures the survival of Santa Claus until the end of the universe, but it requires a radical rethinking Santa Claus doesn't just show up one night every year. "He has been on his way for an eternity of 20 octillion years." An octillion is a 1 followed by 48 zeros. Modern quantum physics is not only reshaping our understanding of reality, time and consciousness, but also making a valuable contribution to saving Santa Claus, Tolan concludes. Incidentally, the professor also calculates how long it takes to work off a single 100-gram chocolate Santa Claus. Unfortunately, that's six hours of walking – or two weeks of non-stop kissing. Ultimately, the book imparts completely useless knowledge, according to Tolan. "After reading it, you will realize that the new insights you have gained will not really help you in any situation in life." But: "You can now shine among your loved ones at Christmas with truly amazing facts and lighten up the contemplative festivities with scientifically sound remarks." The following information is not intended for publication dpa kll a3 xxde mew coh

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