Schrodinger's cat - I just don't get it....

[Zeeflyboy]

It was, if I recall, tied into the quantum realm by having the cat accompanied in the box by a very small radioactive source, a detector and a flask of poison that would be released if the decay of an atom was detected.

So it’s not really that the cat itself is behaving like a quantum system, it’s that you don’t know whether the radioactive source has had an atom decay and emitted radiation to trigger the death of the cat.

 

[mattyfez]

USB sticks are a great example. They will only fit one way, but they must be flipped 3 times or more as they exist in a quantum state until you swear at them.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

You cannot prove the cat is alive or dead without opening the box, so it exists in potentially both states until it is observed at one state

It's a bit like God, nobody can prove one exists and nobody can prove one doesn't exist

It's more philosophical than anything whilst technically being true

No its not thats the point a particle exists in an indeterminate state and it can be measured as such its neither one thing nor the other it exists in every possible position at once but observing it forces it into one particular position and place its literally everywhere its possible to be until it isn't

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

@Baldbloke has done the classic Mumsnet AIBU thread with poll choices open

88% YABU
12% YANBU

The poll didn't go the way he intended, so he did a post-and-run.

 

[inogen]

No its not thats the point a particle exists in an indeterminate state and it can be measured as such its neither one thing nor the other it exists in every possible position at once but observing it forces it into one particular position and place its literally everywhere its possible to be until it isn't

And then it still is.

Fire a single photon at a double slitted screen and it can be observed to travel through both slits simultaneously as both outcomes were possible.

I think the point of the cat analogy is it forces the brain to accept this, even though it’s illogical.

Because the conditions exist for both the cat to de dead or alive, and both conditions can be simultaneously true, then the cat must be dead, but then consider that it’s unknown if the cat is dead or alive, as it’s inside the sealed box and it’s chances are still 50/50, so if it’s dead, it must also be alive.

At the heart of it is that sub atomic particles exist both as particles and as waves. The particles can exist in normal position, ie in one place at a time, but in wave form they can also be observed to fulfil all possibilities available.

The kicker is that the slit experiment also shows that the photon particle itself exhibits the same behaviour.

 

[drakulton]

What was the name and breed of the cat?

 

[Baldbloke]

Slowly dawning on me. I get that quantum stuff is far from intuitive for us earthlings.

Determining speed and position at the same time. That bit I understand. Calculus?
But if the observer can not observe the cat once the lid is closed then can we be sure the cat actually still exists? Tri-state?
I'm getting dizzy.

What was the name and breed of the cat?

Two states at the same time. Has to be a mongrel.

Its name? Ask bloody Schrodinger. He started it, It's his cat.

 

[wesimmo]

It may be finality of death that makes it hard to get your head round.

Maybe think about it like this.

You're in the pub after having had a few pints and are up for a bit of how's yours father when you get home, you also left a bottle of wine in the fridge at home.

While you're staggering back home you don't know whether your partner has opened the wine and will welcome your advances or make you sleep on the sofa for being a drunken fool.

Only be dropping your keys down the dtain and ringing the doorbell by leaning on it will you find out which.

 

[FNG]

The thing about quantum mechanics is that the object can exist in all states (waveforms) until it is observed, at which point the waveform collapses to a single state. So with that light slit experiment, if you observe the diffraction pattern it is one formed by the light travelling through both slits, but if you observe the light it always travels through one slit or the other, never both.(from my hazy memory of uni many years ago)

 

[Ryan-3]

There's also the thing of putting the cat on a string inside the box, then you've got something about a limited integer of complete waves it can follow the path of down the length of the box.

But it's all as FNG says above. Once you look, you get the answer, but you don't know until then.

 

[dave28]

quote "Schrodinger's Cat was simply a teaching tool that Schrodinger used to illustrate how some people were misinterpreting quantum theory. Schrodinger constructed his imaginary experiment with the cat to demonstrate that simple misinterpretations of quantum theory can lead to absurd results which do not match the real world. Unfortunately, many popularizers of science in our day have embraced the absurdity of Schrodinger's Cat and claim that this is how the world really works."

 

[drakulton]

How big was the box they put the cat in?

 

[GizF1]

How big was the cat they put the box in?

 

[UTmaniac]

What happens if you spread butter on the cat's back before putting it in the box?

 

[Murphy]

But if the observer can not observe the cat once the lid is closed then can we be sure the cat actually still exists? Tri-state?
I'm getting dizzy.

It doesn't, Schrodinger's cat is a thought experiment that refuted a particular interpretation of QM. It was to show why the Copenhagen interpretation was wrong or at least didn't make sense.

 

[Freefaller]

This is why quantum physics is such a mind ****. I understand the basic principles, but how it "works" in practice is such a leap! I find it fascinating though, and the development of quantum computers is also really quite something. Things like this also help highlight to me that although we're a learning race and have developed an incredible understanding the universe we have so much yet to learn and explore.

 

[Raymond Lin]

The thing about quantum mechanics is that the object can exist in all states (waveforms) until it is observed, at which point the waveform collapses to a single state. So with that light slit experiment, if you observe the diffraction pattern it is one formed by the light travelling through both slits, but if you observe the light it always travels through one slit or the other, never both.(from my hazy memory of uni many years ago)

"until it is observed".

Sorry for the dumb question....does it know it is being observed and in turn react to it and "freezes" and collapses to a single state?

Surely not...then perhaps we are observing it incorrectly thus our method of observation only sees 1 state, when in fact the correct method sees its true form, which is it exists in all state.

It is our method of observation that gives us the incorrect, or rather, partial answer.

Is that right?

A bit like taking a photograph of a moving car say "it's frozen"...because it is a single photo, shot at a high shutter speed that doesn't illustrate it's moving.

So you are missing the dimension of time in the method of seeing the car, or drag the shutter.

 

[413x]

Back in your box OP

 

[sigma]

Back in your box OP

That took me a second take to (atomic) clock on.

 

[Lysander]

Can someone actually explain this like they understand it i.e. in very concise terms? What is superposition? Can this be explained as well?