Alice in Wonderland

Chapter 1: Down the Wormhole Alice was bored sitting on the bank with her sister watching her read Alice in Quantumland . She was bored and about to fall asleep when suddenly a White Rabbit dressed in a lab coat and goggles ran by her. It did not occur to Alice how weird it was, until the White Rabbit suddenly pulled up its sleeve, checked its watch and exclaimed, Oh Goodness Gracious, I m late! Alice has never seen a Rabbit dressed in a lab coat and goggles, wearing a watch, nor has she seen a Rabbit that actually speaks. Burning with curiosity, Alice started chasing after the Rabbit, which dashed across the field and popped down what appeared to be a rabbit-hole. Without thinking, she dived into the hole. The rabbit hole went straight like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down. So sudden that before Alice realised, she was falling very fast. Alice was falling at such a high speed that she began to feel scared. Alice started to scream. Oh my, oh my! What on Earth am I falling through?! When will it end, when will it end! The strange thing was, the rabbit hole didn t seem to be dark at all. In fact, it was bright, with colourful streaks of light on the sides, and there were also images that Alice recognised were from her past memories, and some that she didn t recognise at all. Then all of a sudden, her seemingly endless fall ended and she found herself on a heap of branches and dry leaves. Alice was not a bit hurt. She sat on the stack of leaves and wondered for a moment what just happened. Oh dear, let me try to make sense of what happened. I jumped down a rabbit hole, then I started falling really fast in the hole for quite some time, and I end up here! What s happening? Where is this place?!

Then Alice tried to recall what she saw in the well, and suddenly an idea came into her mind. Streaks of lights, falling at highly accelerated speed, images from my past memories! I think I might have just fallen through a wormhole! A short-cut through space and time! Did I travel through time, or through space? This idea greatly excited Alice as she recalled how rare wormholes are. She got up onto her feet immediately and started exploring the new world that she had just fallen into. Before her was a long hallway. As Alice looked ahead of her, she could still see the White Rabbit hurrying down the passage way. Alice decided to follow the Rabbit down the hallway since she had nowhere to go to. After turning a corner, she arrived in a big hall with a tea table made of glass in the middle with a cake on it. On the wall at the far end was a red circle. She spotted the Rabbit running towards the circle and when it arrived at the wall, it simply jumped against the wall. BOOM! Whatever the Rabbit was trying to do, it obviously failed as it was howling in pain. Upon seeing this, Alice rushed to see if the Rabbit was alright. But before she could reach the Rabbit, it got up on its feet and did the same thing. But this time, it magically disappeared through the hole. Wow quantum tunnelling actually works! thought Alice, and without thinking, she jumped at the circle too. BOOM! Alice felt as though her head split into two and yelped in pain. After the pain subsided she questioned why she was unable to go through. For an object to tunnel through this wall, all of its subatomic particles must tunnel through it, and reappear in the same organisation as before. And since the Rabbit is smaller in size than me, the chance of it going through must be exponentially higher than me because it is made up of fewer particles! Hmm, I ve got find another way through. reasoned Alice. Feeling slightly demoralised, Alice decided that there was no use in waiting by the little red circle. Alice started looking around her, hoping to find another way through the wall. There

was a tiny crevice near the bottom of the wall, but it was impossible for her to squeeze through. She then saw the cake on the table and remembered that she had not eaten anything since that morning. It looked so colourful, so delicious, it was as if the cake was calling out for Alice and telling her, EAT ME . As soon as she swallowed her first piece she felt a tingling sensation rushing through her body. What a curious feeling! said Alice, I must be shutting up like a telescope. And so it was indeed: she was now only a foot tall, and her face brightened up at the thought that she was now able to go through the wall. She headed towards the wall right away, without even considering how on Earth she would be able to get back to her original size again.

Chapter 2: The Head-body Paradox Behind the wall, Alice found herself in a fruit orchard. To her left were strawberry shrubs, and to her right were orange trees. Strawberries were her favourite, so she ran to the nearest shrub and started munching on the strawberries. Suddenly, her neck began to elongate like a stalk of a giant plant to a point where her shoulders were nowhere to be found and all she could see when she looked down was a sea of green leaves far below her. Oh my god! I must look like the plant in Jack and the Beanstalk! Alice cried, but her voice was muffled by the clouds and all that came out was Oh i ogg! I us ook ak a an i ack un a eatogg! Then she recalled the Twin Paradox. Oh dear, oh dear! I shall not like to find my body all shrivelled up with wrinkles all over, looking all corpse-ly while my face remains pristine in its youthful form! I must find a way to shrink my neck before that happens! With that, she checked if she could bend her neck, and luckily for her, she found that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a serpent. So she went back to where her body was, and decided to give the oranges a try. Maybe that will shrink my neck! As soon as she took a bite, she felt that tingling sensation running through her body again and her neck started reducing in length rapidly, until she was back to normal. She decided to take a little rest under a shady orange tree. She certainly deserved a rest after all the chasing and eating. The tree was so comfortable that she fell asleep.

Chapter 3: The Teleporting Cat When Alice woke up, she found herself in a bizarre forest. She wandered aimlessly along a path till it suddenly split into four paths. She was surprised to see a Cheshire Cat sitting overhead on a branch in a nearby tree. The cat had an ostentatious smirk while glaring at Alice. Feeling a bit lost and helpless, Alice beckoned to the cat and subsequently asked, Excuse me, Cheshire Cat. May I call you Cheshire Cat? I am rather lost and would like to know the right path I should take? Well, technically you should take the path that takes you where you want to go replied the Cat. I suppose you could take this path, said the Cat as it disappeared and reappeared at another tree along one of the paths. Or this one? Or maybe even this one? Or this one? continued the Cat who vanished and appeared from one tree to the next. Well, where will each of these paths take me? inquired Alice. Well, one will take you to a Marche Hare while the other takes you to a Hatter, said the Cat. They are both a bit mad though. Oh dear, but I dare not go to those who are mad, expressed Alice. Well, who isn't mad here? If not mad.... then shall I say weird? remarked the Cat. Quantum weird, I presume? acknowledge Alice. You catch on well, madam, said the Cat amusingly. Answer me this, my little genius. How can one like me who is here, end up over there? remarked the cat as he once again vanished from one tree to another tree that almost was far enough to make his voice barely audible. Well, surely it must involve teleportation, said Alice. Speak up, I cannot hear, yelled the Cat. If I assume you are using quantum teleportation, yelled Alice as she walked along the path

to where the Cat was perched, then....oh dear how did such a theory go again. Ahh..now I remember. So explain it to me while we take a nice stroll, said the Cat as Alice neared the Cat. So Alice began to explain quantum teleportation to the cat with the cat teleporting from branch to branch during their little stroll. Well, when it comes to quantum teleportation, quantum entanglement allows for information to be transferred between two entangled particles. So you would basically need for 3 particles such as photons. Two of the photons, which I will name A and B, would have to be entangled and spread out while the last photon C to be teleported is near one of the entangled photons such as photon A. Then one must measure the properties of the photons A and C jointly so that the relation between photons C and A can be determined. Thus, the relation between photon B and photon C can be determined from the relation of photon C and photon A. The information is then sent to B where photon B is manipulated into becoming photon A. I think that s how it should work. Mhmmmm... said the Cat. That is indeed quite an interesting explanation. Yet you still do not understand how an entire Cat like me made up of more than billions is able to teleport correct? Well, Watson why do you not think of me as a single particle? And everything else here such as the trees as single particles as well? Alice looking bewildered says, What exactly do you mean? You cannot possibly be a particle? Why not? Is it so hard for such a thing to be possible in this Wonderland? Now close your eyes and open them again, ordered the Cat. Alice following what the cat said closed and opened her eyes. She could not believe her eyes. Particles were everywhere. Well that s enough for today, said the particle that sounded like the Cat. We have arrived. And the Cat was gone.

Chapter 4: Card Flipping Alice came to a garden filled with white rose trees. There were four gardeners painting the roses red, which Alice thought was a very curious thing, but everything was very odd where she was, so she didn t give it much thought. The gardeners looked like cards, and they were all number 5 but of different suits one of Hearts, one of Clubs, one of Diamonds, and one of Spades. As Alice got closer to them she heard the 5 of Clubs saying, Hey Hearts! Quit splashing the paint on me! Diamonds pushed me! said 5 of Hearts. Yeah I m sure I did! retorted 5 of Diamonds with sarcasm in his voice. Will you guys shut up and get to work! We need to finish this before the Queen arrives! yelled 5 of Spades, when he noticed Alice standing behind them. YOU! Stop standing around doing nothing and come help us! Suddenly, an army of cards was seen marching towards the garden from the other end. At the end of the procession were the King and Queen of Hearts. Upon seeing this, the gardeners immediately fell flat on their faces on the ground. Alice couldn t help but laugh at this as she thought to herself, What would be the use of a procession if people had to lie down upon their faces so that they couldn t see it? So she stood where she was, giggling to herself. WHAT IS SO FUNNY GIRL? boomed a voice. Alice looked up and found herself staring into the Queen s face. Well, it s just th- Alice started but was interrupted by the Queen. WHY ARE THE ROSES WHITE? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS? WHO IS IN CHARGE HERE? One of the gardeners on the floor, trembling, said That would be me your Majesty. Alice found it difficult to make out which of the 5 said it because they all had the same pattern on their back. WHO ARE YOU? screamed the Queen, who couldn t make out who said it either.

I m the 5 of Spades. Answered one the gardeners, but once again, it was difficult to make out who said that, and this was making the Queen really angry, as seen from her red, fuming face. The Queen jumped off the chariot and stomped towards the gardeners who were still on the floor. She began kicking them, flipping them open. The first to open was 5 of Hearts, who got spat on once the Queen saw that he wasn t the 5 of Spades. The next was 5 of Diamonds, who got slapped. Next was 5 of Clubs, who got stomped on. Upon reaching the fourth gardener, the Queen, who was obviously exhausted, didn t bother to flip him open. YOU MUST BE 5 OF SPADES SINCE THE OTHER THREE ARE NOT! GUARDS, BEHEAD HIM! screamed the Queen, still panting. Wait! shouted Alice who was watching all this. You can t be certain that he is 5 of Spades! WHAT AN IDIOT! OF COURSE HE IS 5 OF SPADES! WHAT ELSE CAN HE BE? KEEP QUIET AND ENJOY THE SHOW! hissed the Queen. No you can t be certain! Haven t you heard about quantum physics? It s meaningless to talk about an object except when it is being measured! And since measurements can only be carried out by conscious beings and objects don't exist except when they are being measured, objects can't exist independently of human consciousness. Simply put, that last gardener on the floor won t be 5 of Spades UNLESS you flip him open. explained Alice. Upon hearing this, the Queen froze and frowned, trying to comprehend what Alice was saying. It seemed so weird, yet it seemed to make sense too! So you re telling me, that if I don t look at the moon, it won t exist? questioned the Queen. Well, that s what Einstein himself asked once. I can t answer a question that Einstein couldn t answer can I? replied Alice. If you are correct, and nothing can meaningfully be said to exist unless it is observed by a conscious human being, then most of our commonsense beliefs and the most of science itself - such as the Big Bang theory and evolutionary theory - would have to be rejected since no one was there to observe them. argued the Queen. Also, if nothing can exist

without being observed, then objects such as the moon wouldn t exist unless their subatomic particles are being observed. And it is a known fact that a complex object cannot exist without its simple constituents. Since no one is observing the subatomic particles of the moon, then the moon doesn t exist even when a person is looking at it. And whatever I ve just said means that before I saw you, you ceased to exist, and right now when I m looking at you, you shouldn t be existing! It was Alice s turn to be speechless now. Her mind was racing, trying to formulate an argument. But before she could think of anything, the Queen was onto her with a grin on her face. OFF WITH HER HEAD! screamed the Queen. At this the whole pack of cards rose up into the air, and came flying down upon her: she gave a little scream, half of fright and half of anger, and tried to beat them off, and found herself lying on the bank, with her head in the lap of her sister, who was gently brushing away some dead leaves that had fluttered down from the trees upon her face. Wake up, Alice dear! said her sister. What a long sleep you had! Alice sat up, looking around. What a weird dream she had! Suddenly, something white caught the corner of her eye. It was the White rabbit in the lab coat running past her. It all seemed too familiar. Dj vu? Or maybe I travelled back into time! Oh dear!