Dead and alive: Schrödinger's cat is entangled with an atom. If the atom is excited,
the cat is alive. If it has decayed, the cat is dead. In the experiment, a light pulse
represents the two states (peaks) and may be in a superposition of both, just like the cat.
Credit: Christoph Hohmann, Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)
"..??..you sure like stirring chit don't cha?"
It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects.
The scenario presents a cat that may be simultaneously both alive and dead,[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] a state known as a quantum superposition, as a result of being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur.
The thought experiment is also often featured in theoretical discussions of the interpretations of quantum mechanics. Schrödinger coined the term Verschränkung (entanglement) in the course of developing the thought experiment.
Schrödinger intended his thought experiment as a discussion of the EPR article—named after its authors Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen—in 1935.[9] The EPR article highlighted the counterintuitive nature of quantum superpositions, in which a quantum system such as an atom or photon can exist as a combination of multiple states corresponding to different possible outcomes.
The prevailing theory, called the Copenhagen interpretation, said that a quantum system remains in superposition until it interacts with, or is observed by the external world. When this happens, the superposition collapses into one or another of the possible definite states. The EPR experiment showed that a system with multiple particles separated by large distances could be in such a superposition. Schrödinger and Einstein exchanged letters about Einstein’s EPR article, in the course of which Einstein pointed out that the state of an unstable keg of gunpowder will, after a while, contain a superposition of both exploded and unexploded states.
To further illustrate, Schrödinger described how one could, in principle, create a superposition in a large-scale system by making it dependent on a quantum particle that was in a superposition. He proposed a scenario with a cat in a locked steel chamber, wherein the cat’s life or death depended on the state of a radioactive atom, whether it had decayed and emitted radiation or not. According to Schrödinger, the Copenhagen interpretation implies that the cat remains both alive and dead until the state has been observed. Schrödinger did not wish to promote the idea of dead-and-alive cats as a serious possibility; on the contrary, he intended the example to illustrate the absurdity of the existing view of quantum mechanics.[1]
However, since Schrödinger’s time, other interpretations of the mathematics of quantum mechanics have been advanced by physicists, some of which regard the “alive and dead” cat superposition as quite real.[8][5] Intended as a critique of the Copenhagen interpretation (the prevailing orthodoxy in 1935), the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment remains a defining touchstone for modern interpretations of quantum mechanics. Physicists often use the way each interpretation deals with Schrödinger’s cat as a way of illustrating and comparing the particular features, strengths, and weaknesses of each interpretation.
lots more at link
So the cat is now either dead, alive or doesn’t exist at all?................
I just knew this thread would be about cats.
Article would be catogorically better if they did not pussy foot around and let us get our paws on the details.
In this instance, pulses of laser light play the role of the cat.All of this is just an eggheads way for physicists to rationalize the fact that they have no effing clue as to the reason for wave/particle duality
Sorry, but alive and dead are mutually exclusive. Alive is not dead. Dead is not alive.
What he meant to say was that there was no way to know the current state of the imaginary cat. He got confused. Words are so hard to understand.
First something has to create a photon of light. I’m curious what gets it to suddenly travel at the speed of light, in all directions.
“all measurements were found to confirm Schrödinger’s prediction.”
Schrödinger’s prediction was that the cat would be both dead and alive at the same time. How did they measure that?
Experiments like these leave me skeptical. They make sweeping claims but we’re just expected to take their word for it that the experiment shows what they claim.