What is the essence of the experiment with the cat?
Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2025 10:39 am
Erwin Schrodinger
Many people found Erwin Schrödinger strange. Source
What was the experiment for and what does the cat have to do with it?
One of the laws of quantum mechanics states that the smallest particles of something can be present in different places at the same time, even mutually exclusive ones. This phenomenon is called superposition.
Thus, it is impossible to know for sure where or in what state the quantum is now. And to understand this, you need to observe it. Scientifically, this phenomenon sounds like this: "The wave function experiences a state of collapse and the quantum system enters a specific position only when an observer arrives."
This statement is called the observer paradox. According to it, the particle somehow "knows" that it is being observed and changes its state depending on this. The observer paradox is considered one of the problems of quantum mechanics.
Schrödinger also considered the observer paradox to jordan telegram data be not a completely correct statement. Therefore, he decided to experimentally prove that the state does not depend on the presence or absence of an observer. To do this, the scientist needed a cat, which made him famous. But the experiment was mental, so the real animal was not harmed at all
Explaining Superposition in Memes
Superposition explained in memes. Source
As we have already found out, the experiment with the cat was mental. That is, Schrödinger did not perform any purely physical manipulations. Let us briefly describe the essence of the study.
We have a steel box with powerful sound insulation. Inside there is a Geiger counter with a radioactive atom and a container with poisonous gas. We put the cat in this box.
There is a 50% chance that within an hour the nucleus of the radioactive atom will decay, the gas reservoir will open and the cat will die. But there is exactly the same 50% chance that the mechanism will not work and the cat will remain alive.
We close the box, wait an hour and ask ourselves: is the cat alive or dead?
Quantum mechanics states that the atomic nucleus and the cat are simultaneously in a superposition, that is, in all possible states at the same time. While the box is closed, the cat-nucleus system is 50% likely to be in the state of "nucleus has not decayed, the cat is alive" and 50% likely to be in the state of "nucleus has decayed, the cat is dead." To simplify this, we can say that the cat in the box is simultaneously alive and dead.
Many people found Erwin Schrödinger strange. Source
What was the experiment for and what does the cat have to do with it?
One of the laws of quantum mechanics states that the smallest particles of something can be present in different places at the same time, even mutually exclusive ones. This phenomenon is called superposition.
Thus, it is impossible to know for sure where or in what state the quantum is now. And to understand this, you need to observe it. Scientifically, this phenomenon sounds like this: "The wave function experiences a state of collapse and the quantum system enters a specific position only when an observer arrives."
This statement is called the observer paradox. According to it, the particle somehow "knows" that it is being observed and changes its state depending on this. The observer paradox is considered one of the problems of quantum mechanics.
Schrödinger also considered the observer paradox to jordan telegram data be not a completely correct statement. Therefore, he decided to experimentally prove that the state does not depend on the presence or absence of an observer. To do this, the scientist needed a cat, which made him famous. But the experiment was mental, so the real animal was not harmed at all
Explaining Superposition in Memes
Superposition explained in memes. Source
As we have already found out, the experiment with the cat was mental. That is, Schrödinger did not perform any purely physical manipulations. Let us briefly describe the essence of the study.
We have a steel box with powerful sound insulation. Inside there is a Geiger counter with a radioactive atom and a container with poisonous gas. We put the cat in this box.
There is a 50% chance that within an hour the nucleus of the radioactive atom will decay, the gas reservoir will open and the cat will die. But there is exactly the same 50% chance that the mechanism will not work and the cat will remain alive.
We close the box, wait an hour and ask ourselves: is the cat alive or dead?
Quantum mechanics states that the atomic nucleus and the cat are simultaneously in a superposition, that is, in all possible states at the same time. While the box is closed, the cat-nucleus system is 50% likely to be in the state of "nucleus has not decayed, the cat is alive" and 50% likely to be in the state of "nucleus has decayed, the cat is dead." To simplify this, we can say that the cat in the box is simultaneously alive and dead.