From: <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
*Doesn't the superposition of states used in the cat problem. or
indeed any quantum superposition, requires the system being
measured to be isolated? AG *
*As I see it, the total system represented by the wf ( (Alive,
Undecayed) + (Dead, Decayed) ), leaving out Dirac symbols, must be
isolated if it's regarded as a superposition. If so, this implies the
cat is also isolated. AG*
That is the root of your problem in understanding superpositions. There
is absolutely no requirement for the system to be isolated in order for
there to be a superposition. In fact, the opposite is the case -- each
branch of the superposition decoheres by interacting with, and becoming
entangled with, the environment. That is how quantum measurement theory
proceeds. Isolation from the environment is a condition you made up, and
it is not required.
Bruce
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