NIST Physicists Coax Six Atoms Into Quantum 'Cat' State

Science Daily | National Institute of Standards and Technology ^ | 2005-12-03

[King Prout]

...and, to have radio communications with the civilized world when in the heart of an equatorial jungle, one must physically transport a radio to the remote location.

still beats humping back and forth with handwritten notes, no?

a total suppostition - what if there is a specific kind or range of entanglements which are simply easier or more durable or more useful than the others? what if there is what amounts to a "universal frequency" for entangled communication?

I cannot even begin to have serious thoughts on the matter, lacking anything close to even a beginner's knowledge on it, but it makes for pleasant fantasy.

[rootkidslim]

You're in good company: as (I think) Feynman said, nobody understands quantum mechanics...you just get used to it.

I am much more used to the idea since I began wearing the official Schrödinger's Cat T-shirt. If I spin on axis real fast in front of a mirror, I can read both front and back simultaneously.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/science/6dff/

[Doctor Stochastic]

Purely mathematical and somewhat philosophical. It's an interesting question. Why is i sufficient? (Run your spell&grammar-checker on this.)

[js1138]

...and, to have radio communications with the civilized world when in the heart of an equatorial jungle, one must physically transport a radio to the remote location.

Not true. Think about it.

[King Prout]

hrmn... no patterns in nature...
can't agree - we observe and describe patterns, but they were extant before we did so.

[King Prout]

well, if you had the right materials, you might be able to construct a radio locally.

[King Prout]

why can data NOT be transmitted in this manner?

[Doctor Stochastic]

There are two others. There are always three cube roots. You might have fun finding them.

[longshadow]

I mean, -1^3 = -1...

Yup. If the number of roots is odd, it doesn't generate anything "interesting" that would provide a basis for an orthogonal direction, as "i" does in the case when you take the SqrRoot(-1). "i" is used to define an orthogonal dimension wrt to the real number line, together forming the basis of the Complex Plane.

[RobFromGa]

I was under the assumption that the likelihood of the "dead" state would be dalculated according to a function which started with a value of 0 at time 0, and apporaches 1 at time infinity. The speed of the approach to one is determined by the characteristics of the actual material. But, this is a probablility and is not the same as actual reality which can only be determined by observation.

[Doctor Stochastic]

And if you rotate your phone 90 degees, you can dial an imaginary phone number.

[King Prout]

There are always three cube roots

eh?

ok, give me an illustration, so that I (might have some chance to try to) know what you are talking about: What are the other cube roots of, oh, 27, besides 3?

and no cheating... _X3 and _Y3 and _Z3 have the same numeric value ;)

[RightWhale]

Something to consider--we have observed patterns in nature since we became conscious several eons ago. The patterns we have observed are always replaced by new patterns, so cannot have been produced by nature. It was only a century ago that the ether was replaced by relativity, and relativity is a mathematical description of an illusion.

[longshadow]

And if you rotate your phone 90 degees, you can dial an imaginary phone number.

.... or an orthogonal friend!

[AntiGuv]

why can data NOT be transmitted in this manner?

If my past experience is any guide, the answer to this will amount to: it just can't.

[King Prout]

we observe records of patterns which long predate our rise.
QED: patterns existed prior to our rise and subsequent description of the patterns.

[RightWhale]

Quaternions were quite an innovation, but turned out to be not particularly useful and were abandoned--until a few years ago. They are back, especially in graphics.

[Petronski]

That's the clearest explanation of Schrödinger's cat I have ever read.

Thanks.

[Doctor Stochastic]

x**3-1=0 is the equation we need to solve. -1 is one solution.

(x**3-1)/(x-1)=x**2+x+1 so we solve this by the quadratic formula.

x=(-1+Sqrt(-3))/2 or (-1-Sqrt(-3))/2

These are the others cube roots. Multiplying by 3 gives the cube roots of (-27).

[RightWhale]

We observe. There is a jump between sensing and perceiving. The jump occurs in our consciousness--the sensory input is primary data; the analysis, however faulty, is an attempt to make a pattern out of the data.