Schrodingers Cat

[sulluvun31315]

I have recently become very interested in some of the aspects of Quantum Mechanics and this was the first thing I read up on. My physics teacher had a book entitled "In Search of Schrödinger's Cat". Intrigued and VERY bored, I did some research on it. Quite fascinating if you ask me. Anyone else feel similar?

So of the many interpretations (many worlds, objective collapse, copenhagen, ect.) which do you prefer?

Schrödinger's cat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Ziggy Stardust]

.... you do know thats the point, right? There really isn't an answer; theres no way of telling becase of the boxes or something if I remember correctly.... I don't know! This is a math problem, and math sucks; unless it's practical like physics.

[sulluvun31315]

Quote by: Ziggy Stardust .... you do know thats the point, right? There really isn't an answer...

The whole "is it alive or dead" thing was me just trying to be fancy. My goal here was to start a discussion on the different "interpretations" and which ones people favor and why. my intentions were not clear enough and for that i apologize.

[Jack]

Every couple of years I reread the Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson.

It's both entertaining and enlightening.

[Nemiroff]

i think it's silly, i understand the whole you can't see it so you dont know, but how does that mean that as long as noone looks in the box both are true.

they may be equally true meaning that we dont know. but for both to be true, for the cat to be alive and dead at the same time, thats a contradiction and is logically impossible.

can someone please explain to me how it works, and how does it in any way apply to real life.

[SoylentGreen]

Quote by: Nemiroff i think it's silly, i understand the whole you can't see it so you dont know, but how does that mean that as long as noone looks in the box both are true. they may be equally true meaning that we dont know. but for both to be true, for the cat to be alive and dead at the same time, thats a contradiction and is logically impossible.can someone please explain to me how it works

Not that it is true, but that there is only two options and both options have equal value, hence the cat is both dead and alive.

and how does it in any way apply to real life.

It doesn't, but it does apply In quantum physics and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle

Uncertainty principle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[sulluvun31315]

Quote by: Nemiroff i think it's silly, i understand the whole you can't see it so you dont know, but how does that mean that as long as noone looks in the box both are true. they may be equally true meaning that we dont know. but for both to be true, for the cat to be alive and dead at the same time, thats a contradiction and is logically impossible. can someone please explain to me how it works, and how does it in any way apply to real life.

the "as long as you dont look in the box" as you put it, is only one interpretation, the Copenhagen Interpretation i believe. Another interpretation is the Many Worlds which states that when the 1 hour time period elapses, the universe splits; one into which there is an alive cat (no radioactive particle released), and one into which there is a dead cat (radioactive particle released). Another, the Objective Collapse Theory states that the system collapses once a certain period of "un-reversibility" is reached. There is not any real application to real life, its just something interesting to think about imo... and then theres quantum immortality... =)

[simple simon]

ok .... ive skimmed this over and im not about to pretend that i understand it .... its nothing i ever learned in school

but let me take a stab at it anyway .... let me know what you think

Quote by: sulluvun31315 Another, the Objective Collapse Theory states that the system collapses once a certain period of "un-reversibility" is reached

this part stuck out to me .... i read it and reread it ...... and i kept coming back to 'point of no return' ......... seems youre saying if you wait long enough you will inevitably reach a point where something is bound to happen to shift the answer one way or another .... in time there will be an end result

to use the cat analogy ....... in the beginning of the test period either answer may be correct ..... but if you wait long enough the point of no return will be reached where there is only one possible solution ..... the cat will die from starvation .... leaving a dead cat as the only answer


as i said .. i never had heard of any of this before this thread .. so i could be way off ... but id like to hear what people think of what i gleaned from it

[Jack]

Not so much a matter of "waiting long enough" or any period of time, but more a matter of actions. Until something happens to cause a potential reality to become actual reality, all realities exist in equal probability. It's all a matter of potentiality.

[simple simon]

Quote by: Isherwood Until something happens to cause a potential reality to become actual reality, all realities exist in equal probability. It's all a matter of potentiality.

again im not claiming to have a perfect understanding of this .... but i dont find that to be true

in some scenarios i think there is a chance of a more likely outcome .... ie: it takes a lot more to keep a cat alive then it does to let it die ........ many things have to go right for it to stay alive .. breathing, heart rate, brain function and so on ... but only one thing needs to go wrong and it is dead

i hope im making sense

[SoylentGreen]

Quote by: simple simon again im not claiming to have a perfect understanding of this .... but i dont find that to be true in some scenarios i think there is a chance of a more likely outcome .... ie: it takes a lot more to keep a cat alive then it does to let it die ........ many things have to go right for it to stay alive .. breathing, heart rate, brain function and so on ... but only one thing needs to go wrong and it is dead i hope im making sense

True, but the point is that there is no certainty as to the outcome until someone actually looks.

[ZNFYRH]

Isn't there another book or series of books, or papers, titled something like, "Killing Schrodinger's Cat"?

[sulluvun31315]

Quote by: simple simon ok .... ive skimmed this over and im not about to pretend that i understand it .... its nothing i ever learned in school but let me take a stab at it anyway .... let me know what you think this part stuck out to me .... i read it and reread it ...... and i kept coming back to 'point of no return' ......... seems youre saying if you wait long enough you will inevitably reach a point where something is bound to happen to shift the answer one way or another .... in time there will be an end result to use the cat analogy ....... in the beginning of the test period either answer may be correct ..... but if you wait long enough the point of no return will be reached where there is only one possible solution ..... the cat will die from starvation .... leaving a dead cat as the only answer as i said .. i never had heard of any of this before this thread .. so i could be way off ... but id like to hear what people think of what i gleaned from it

it is an interesting though but I think your thinking to long term with the starvation. the wikipedia article suggests things such as "the cat observes itself" or "the environment observes the cat". most importantly i think is the point that the cat would have settled into a "reality" long before the box was opened. I feel people are mixing up the theories and interpretations here. The one that goes with the whole "multiple realities/many states/alive and dead cat at once" is the Copenhagen Interpretation. The Objective Collapse interpretation states as mentioned previously that the cat would not be in a variety of states, it would settle into one state when the point is reached which i guess would be instantaneously in this case if the cat "observes itself". Im not very good at transmitting my ideas to others so i apologize if this makes absolutely no sense =)