Quantum
mechanics is one of the most tenacious and stable theories in science; it is
also one of the most nonsensical. The renowned Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment
(an experiment that is not physically carried out), tries to show just how
strange the quantum world really is. It’s a theory that’s really BOTH to live
and die for (pardon my pun).
Before
talking about Schrödinger’s cat, some background information about quantum
mechanics must be given. Quantum mechanics deals with the subatomic universe
and explains its behavior. The quantum world works in a way that can only be
comprehended if the subatomic universe is permitted to behave in such a way
where the entities are in a state of superposition. Superposition is a state
where an object is doing more than one thing at the same time or is in multiple
places at the same time (Al-khalili, 181). Schrödinger’s cat can be used to
represent many things in the subatomic universe but I’ll use the spin of an
electron as an example of superposition. Electrons come in pairs, and with
those pairs, one electron will spin clockwise and the other will spin
counterclockwise. This is where it gets a little complicated though; before
observed, both electrons are said to be in a quantum superposition where they
spin both clockwise AND counterclockwise at the same time. Well that doesn't
make any sense, right? How can something be spinning both clockwise and
counterclockwise at the same time (I dare you to try and do it)? Well that’s
the exact reason why quantum mechanics is seen as a paradox. From here though,
we can start playing with some quantum kitties!
The
Schrödinger’s
cat thought experiment set up is as follows and can be seen in the picture
below: a cat is put in a box (you cannot see into the box). The box contains a
trace amount of radioactive substance, a Geiger counter and a flask of poison
that is smashed, killing the cat, if the radioactive substance hits its
half-life, releasing radiation.
There’s
another interpretation by the group called the Advocates of Many New World
Interpretations and they believe in an idea that takes it to a whole new level.
Not only does the cat get entangled with the fate of the radioactive material,
but so does the experimenter that is carrying out the thought experiment. Now,
when the experimenter opens the box, his fate is dependent on the cat’s state
of being. This then suggests that the universe now contains two new histories
in which the experimenter either observes a cat that is dead or alive (not
both). Harris states that; “Through the act of observation, the experimenter
actually becomes part of the system,” (Harris, 44). With the more experiments
that he observes, the more histories are added to the universe. Another way to
think about this is that there’s a history for every decision you have ever
made and ever will make. Now that’s a lot of history.
With all of this in mind, I guess you could say that at the end of the day, curiosity killed the cat.
Work Cited
(1) Yam, Philip. "Bringing Schrodinger's Cat To Life." Scientific American 276.6 (1997): 124. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
(2) HARRIS, JÉRÉMIE. "Quantum Immortality And The Many Lives Of Schrödinger's Cat." Skeptic 19.3 (2014): 42-45. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
(3) Al-Khalili, Jim. "9 The Paradox of Schrödinger’s Cat." Paradox: The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics. New York: Broadway, 2012. 179-98. Print.
Okay now I understand what Schrödinger’s Cat is. I always wondered what it was about but never looked into it. I like how you go on to explain what superposition is. The cat is is both states (dead or alive) but it is our act of looking that forces nature's decision for one of the choices. I found a video that summarizes this topic very well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOYyCHGWJq4. Overall, this has cleared up many questions I had like "what is quantum mechanics?"
ReplyDeleteThe concept of Superposition is very interesting but not so easy to understand. But I do understand that all objects not observed are assumed to be in superposition, including God himself (since he has no observer). However, I wonder, do all things take the same state or different states when in superposition, like for example, a particle/ electron would exist as a wave in this state. I find the topic very thought provoking indeed
ReplyDeleteThe Schrödinger’s Cat concept is, in general, very interesting to learn about. The whole quantum mechanics relating to the superposition was cool to read about with the cat having two choices. The fact that stood out most to me was that based on whether something is being observed, their behavior changes differently in the quantum world.
ReplyDeleteExplaining quantum mechanics to someone who has no prior knowledge can be very difficult to do but I feel like you did a very good job doing just that. Schrodinger's Cat and Superposition are two very interesting topics. The concept of something doing a infinite amount of various things until observed so that we can come to a conclusion to what it is actually doing is something I had never thought about before. Great Summary!
ReplyDeleteI didn't have previous knowledge of the topic so at first I was confused by the whole concept but overall I thought that you did a very good job summarizing it. I liked the picture a lot. It definitely added to the post!
ReplyDeleteSchrödinger’s cat was quite hard for me to understand. I think with the two ideas of superpositions and quantum mechanics was hard to understand. I had just felt that it's hard to explain those two ideas in just a blog post. Other than that it was interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteThe concept made a lot of sense to me, I reread it a couple times but now I understand. It's something I've never thought about how the cat can be doing more than one thing inside but once we look, the cat is either dead or alive. Quantum mechanics is indeed a paradox from your electron example. It goes to show how many theories in science can be thought up and still make sense in a way. I wonder if every other thing is in a superposition or does it depend on the thing?
ReplyDeleteThe concept of superposition is more easily understood with the electron example in my opinion. i feel like your passage was fairly brief and that more detail about schrodingers cat could have been included. my prior knowledge of quantum mechanics is more than none and you seemed to do a fair job at explaining some of the concepts. it would have been nice to have read more about the concepts and ideas behind quantum mechanics in this post before going into detail on the cat experiment.
ReplyDeleteI had no prior knowledge of this topic before so it was difficult for me to understand. You explained it fairly well and did a good job incorporating the picture.
ReplyDeleteLike most people that read this blog, I have never heard of this experiment before. I'm struggling to come up with a good comment for this because I have no background knowledge of quantum physics of superposition. I think there could have been more added to part about the experiment that would have made me understand it better. That being said, I still learned a fair amount from this read.
ReplyDeleteFirst time reading about the Schrodinger's cat and had to read it twice to fully understand. What caught my attention was when you mentioned whether the cat is dead or alive,there is still a question of when quantum superposition ends or when reality comes into place when we realize with our eyes. Interesting theory!
ReplyDeleteThe Schrödinger’s Cat was hard to understand in the beginning. But once I started reading through out the blog it got easier to understand. This was also my first time hearing about the Schrödinger’s Cat and I found it very interesting. I thought you had a good summary because you helped me understand the more I read it.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of Schrodinger's Cat before and quantum mechanics in physics before so I found your topic to be interesting. I liked how you explained weather the cat is alive or dead.
ReplyDeleteI have been very interested in this topic for a really long time. I've researched quite a bit about this problem, and really liked what Schrodinger himself said about the "experiment". Thank you for reminding me about this thought provoking topic.
ReplyDelete