So, to put it more succinctly, while the cat is in the box, the battery is both dead and alive. Which explains why I hit my remote if it doesn't work (WORK, damn you!). Have I got that right?
On Jun 18, 2013, at 5:31 AM, "Mike Palij" <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:51:17 -0700, Carol DeVolder wrote: >> What would Schrodinger say--the cat is neither dead nor alive, it just >> needs to be recharged? > > Well this is a little complicated but if one reads the Wikipedia entry on > Schrodinger's cat the following paraphrase of the situation, I think, > provides the appropriate analogy: > > |Schrödinger's cat: a robotic cat with a limited battery life is placed > |in a sealed box. If an internal monitor detects a prolonged period of > lack of the cat's movement, the battery is dead. The Copenhagen > |interpretation of quantum mechanics implies that after a while, the > |cat is simultaneously powered and unpowered. Yet, when one > |looks in the box, one sees the cat either powered and active or > |unpowered and inactive, not both powered/alive and unpowered/dead. > |This poses the question of when exactly quantum superposition ends > |and reality collapses into one possibility or the other. > See: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schroedinger%27s_cat > > To make the Schrodinger's cat situation more sensible, consider the > following quote from the Wikipedia entry: > > |To further illustrate, Schrödinger describes how one could, in > |principle, transpose the superposition of an atom to large-scale > |systems. He proposed a scenario with a cat in a sealed box, > |wherein the cat's life or death depended on the state of a subatomic > |particle. According to Schrödinger, the Copenhagen interpretation > |implies that the cat remains both alive and dead (to the universe > |outside the box) until the box is opened. Schrödinger did not wish > |to promote the idea of dead-and-alive cats as a serious possibility; > |quite the reverse, the paradox is a classic reductio ad absurdum.[2] > |The thought experiment illustrates quantum mechanics and the > |mathematics necessary to describe quantum states. Intended as > |a critique of just the Copenhagen interpretation (the prevailing > |orthodoxy in 1935), the Schrödinger cat thought experiment remains > |a typical touchstone for limited interpretations of quantum mechanics. > |Physicists often use the way each interpretation deals with Schrödinger's > |cat as a way of illustrating and comparing the particular features, > |strengths, and weaknesses of each interpretation. > > And mind the nuts and bolts. > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [email protected] > > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443341&n=T&l=tips&o=26123 > or send a blank email to > leave-26123-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=26124 or send a blank email to leave-26124-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
