On Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 10:45:40 AM UTC, [email protected] wrote: > > > > On Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 7:41:00 AM UTC, [email protected] > wrote: >> >> >> >> On Wednesday, December 13, 2017 at 5:55:59 AM UTC, Bruce wrote: >>> >>> On 13/12/2017 11:41 am, [email protected] wrote: >>> >>> On Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 10:52:12 PM UTC, Bruce wrote: >>>> >>>> On 13/12/2017 9:45 am, [email protected] wrote: >>>> >>>> On Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 10:14:01 PM UTC, Bruce wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> So Schrödinger's cat was once a coherent state of a cat in a box, and >>>>> the splitting occurs with the decay of a nucleus; >>>> >>>> >>>> *Unlike the double slit experiment, which can only be understood with >>>> interference and the model that the electron wave, say, goes through both >>>> slits, the nuclear decay is a BINARY event, very roughly like a coin toss >>>> where there is no interference. Generalizing interference to every quantum >>>> state is where Schrodinger went wrong. The cat, which shares or inherits >>>> the wf from the radioactive decay, is never in both Alive and Dead states >>>> simultaneously. AG* >>>> >>>> >>>> In the double slit, the paths through the two slits remain coherent, so >>>> they can interfere when they come together. In the case of nuclear decay, >>>> the coherence is lost immediately, so the nucleus does not interfere with >>>> the decay products. >>>> >>>> Bruce >>>> >>> >>> *So you agree or disagree with my conclusion; namely, the cat is never >>> in a superposition of states? That is, no situation where cat is Alive and >>> Dead simultaneously. I think you disagree and think the nuclear state is >>> superposed with interference existing. AG* >>> >>> >>> The superposition of |live + dead> or |live - dead> does not exist in >>> any single world since such states are not stable against decoherence. But >>> if you take the pedantic view of the many worlds of MWI, the superposition >>> of live and dead cats, together with everything entangled with them, exists >>> for ever in the multiverse. What good that does anyone, I fail to >>> understand. >>> >>> Bruce >>> >> >> *I am not referring to the MWI. I am referring to whether in >> Schrodinger's cat experiment, the wf of the radioactive source, ( |decayed> >> + |undecayed> ) , is a superposition of states without interference between >> its components. If that's the case, perhaps what you would call an >> "incoherent superposition", then the cat which shares or inherits this wf >> in Schrodinger's set up, is never in a state of Alive and Dead >> simultaneously. AG* >> >> *You can look at it this way; in the double slit experiment, the >> probability wave of the electron, say, passes through both slits >> SIMULTANEOUSLY. As a result, it is conceptually feasible to model >> interference between the waves, giving rise to the correct distribution on >> the screen. This is the seminal experiment in QM and gives rise to the >> general interpretation that a system in a superposition can be in multiple >> states simultaneously. BUT for a nucleus of a radioactive element, the >> nucleus is never Decayed and Undecayed SIMULTANEOUSLY. Thus, it makes no >> sense to believe there can be interference between the states. Absent >> interference means the cat tied to the radioactive source can never be in >> the Alive and Dead states SIMULTANEOUSLY. AG* >> > And the answer is (drum roll please); SHUT UP AND CALCULATE! AG
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