Erwin Schrödinger is famous for presenting his wave equation of motion that jump-started quantum mechanics. His disenchantment with the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics led him to unveil the Schrödinger's cat paradox, which did not get much attention for nearly half a century. In the meantime, disappointment with quantum mechanics turned his interest to biology facilitating, albeit in a peripheral way, the revelation of the structure of DNA. Interest in Schrödinger's cat has recently come roaring back making its appearance conspicuously in numerous scientific articles. From the arguments presented here, it would appear that the legendary Schrödinger's cat is here to stay, symbolizing a profound truth that quantum reality exists at all scales; but we do not observe it in our daily macroscopic world as it is masked for all practical purposes, most likely by environmental decoherence with irreversible thermal effects. Quanta 2017; 6: 70–80.
Erwin Schrödinger is famous for presenting his wave equation of motion that jump-started quantum mechanics. His disenchantment with the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics led him to unveil the Schrödinger's cat paradox, which did not get much attention for nearly half a century. In the meantime, disappointment with quantum mechanics turned his interest to biology facilitating, albeit in a peripheral way, the revelation of the structure of DNA. Interest in Schrödinger's cat has recently come roaring back making its appearance conspicuously in numerous scientific articles. From the arguments presented here, it would appear that the legendary Schrödinger's cat is here to stay, symbolizing a profound truth that quantum reality exists at all scales; but we do not observe it in our daily macroscopic world as it is masked for all practical purposes, most likely by environmental decoherence with irreversible thermal effects. Quanta 2017; 6: 70–80.
One of the most famous cats in modern physics must be the Schroedinger’s Cat, in which he hypothesized that his cat cannot be determined alive or death until we look into his box. By which the paradox of his half-live cat had been puzzling the quantum physicists over three-quarter of a century since Schrödinger disclosed it in a Copenhagen forum in1935. Since the disclosure, the paradox has been debating by Einstein, Bohr, Schroedinger himself and many others renowned physicists, until now. We have found the cause of the paradox and we will show in this article, of which the hypothesis of Schroedinger’s Cat is not a paradox after all. It was the timeless radioactive particle he introduced into the box, since timeless and temporal spaces are mutually exclusive. We will show that the whole Schrödinger’s quantum world is timeless (i.e., t = 0) and his fundamental principle of superposition is timeless, since his quantum mechanics was built within an empty subspace. We will also stress that Schrödinger equation is mathematics and it is primarily designed to calculate particle’s quantum dynamics using particle-wave duality. Similar to the set of Maxwell equations; the solution has to satisfy the boundary condition of our universe; dimensionality, temporal and causality (i.e., t > 0) condition.
The most famous cat in modern physics must be the Schrodinger’s cat, in which he hypothesized that his cat cannot be determined alive or dead until we look into his box, by which the paradox of his half-live cat had been puzzling the quantum physicists over three quarter of a century since Schrödinger disclosed it in a Copenhagen forum in 1935. Since the disclosure, the paradox has been debated by Einstein, Bohr, Schrodinger, and many other renowned physicists, until now. We have found the cause of the paradox, and we will show in this chapter of which the hypothesis of Schrodinger’s cat is not a paradox after all. It was the timeless radioactive particle he introduced into the box, since timeless and temporal spaces are mutually exclusive. We will show that the whole quantum world is timeless (i.e., t = 0), since quantum mechanics can be regarded as mathematics.
The Schrödinger's Cat paradox was proposed in 1935 by Edwin Schrodinger, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, as an attempt to visualize the macroscopic realization of a quantum superposition state. A cat is placed in a sealed box together with a vial of poison. A two-state particle (e.g. an electron) is sent into a detector in the box resulting either in a broken or an intact vial and a dead or live cat, respectively. The main problem consists in whether the superposition state of a microscopic particle can be transferred upon the macroscopic cat, that is, whether the cat can exist in a superposition state, being simultaneously dead and alive. Since the standard Copenhagen interpretation is unable to assign any reality to the quantum superposition state, the paradox finds no resolution within the regime of this interpretation. Von Neumann's insistence on the uniform treatment of both microscopic (quantum) and macroscopic (classical) objects according to the laws of quantum mechanics provides a more consistent framework for the resolution of the paradox. In particular, the discovery of the phenomenon of decoherence, whereby the disappearance of the quantum interferences at the macro level is accounted for, suggests the onset of an extremely efficient interference relaxation process (10-23 s) upon the interaction of the two state particle with the detector. As a result, Schrodinger's cat can exist macroscopically either as dead or alive and never as a combination of both. Decoherence not only aids the resolution of the Schrodinger's Cat paradox but also sheds light upon the mechanisms by which the macro-world emerges from the microscopic quantum realm.
The most famous cat in modern physics must be the Schrödinger’s Cat, in which he hypothesized that his cat cannot be determined alive or death until we look into his box. By which the paradox of his half-live cat had been puzzling the quantum physicists over three-quarters of a century since Schrödinger disclosed it in a Copenhagen forum in 1935. Since the disclosure, the paradox has been debating by Einstein, Bohr, Schrödinger himself, and many other renowned physicists, until now. We have found the cause of the paradox and we will show in this chapter of which the hypothesis of Schrödinger’s Cat is not a paradox after all. It was the timeless radioactive particle he introduced into the box, since timeless and temporal spaces are mutually exclusive. We will show that the whole Schrödinger’ quantum world is timeless (i.e., t = 0) and his fundamental principle of superposition is timeless, since his quantum mechanics was built within an empty subspace. We will also stress that Schrödinger equation is mathematics and it is primarily designed to calculate particle’s quantum dynamics using particle-wave duality. Similar to the set of Maxwell equations, the solution has to satisfy the boundary condition of our universe: dimensionality, temporal, and causality (i.e., t > 0) condition.
The Schrodinger's Cat paradox was proposed in 1935 by Edwin Schrodinger, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, as an attempt to visualize the macroscopic realization of a quantum superposition state. A cat is placed in a sealed box together with a vial of poison. A two-state particle (e.g. an electron) is sent into a detector in the box resulting either in a broken or an intact vial and a dead or live cat, respectively. The main problem consists in whether the superposition state of a microscopic particle can be transferred upon the macroscopic cat, that is, whether the cat can exist in a superposition state, being simultaneously dead and alive. Since the standard Copenhagen interpretation is unable to assign any reality to the quantum superposition state, the paradox finds no resolution within the regime of this interpretation. Von Neumann's insistence on the uniform treatment of both microscopic (quantum) and macroscopic (classical) objects according to the laws of quantum mechanics provides a more consistent framework for the resolution of the paradox. In particular, the discovery of the phenomenon of decoherence, whereby the disappearance of the quantum interferences at the macro level is accounted for, suggests the onset of an extremely efficient interference relaxation process (10-23 s) upon the interaction of the two state particle with the detector. As a result, Schrodinger's cat can exist macroscopically either as dead or alive and never as a combination of both. Decoherence not only aids the resolution of the Schrodinger's Cat paradox but also sheds light upon the mechanisms by which the macro-world emerges from the microscopic quantum realm.
Erwin Schrödinger’s cat was never meant as a celebration of quantum mechanics, but as a warning. His intent was not to defend his equation but to highlight its weakness when applied to lived reality. The paradox revealed a fracture: the mathematics of the wavefunction described possibilities, while our world presents single, irreversible outcomes. Copenhagen resolved the tension by fiat, declaring collapse without mechanism. Everett later declared the wavefunction itself as reality, clean and unitary, where every outcome persists. Both maneuvers avoided the cost of recording. Landauer’s principle restores it: to register one outcome rather than another requires energy. Decoherence without dissipation is essence. Decoherence with dissipation is the beginning of existence. The distinction is the same as between a reversible calculation and one that leaves heat behind: only the latter produces an irreversible record. Physics, if it seeks to describe reality rather than essence, must account for this toll.