Classical physics as a metaphorical tool for evoking quantum world

Erich Joos

C. S. Unnikrishnan

The most discussed of ``live'' metaphors in physical sciences is that of the Schrödinger cat. Introduced in the early, but mature days of the new quantum theory, in 1935, the parable of the cat has provoked and enlivened debates on the meaning of the quantum theory, on the ontology of the quantum wavefunction, on the puzzle of the collapse of the wavefunction, on the meaning of quantum measurement, and on the boundary between the quantum world and the classical world. In this article, I will discuss these issues of the quantum theory focussing on various aspects of the metaphor of the Schrödinger cat.

Julian Voss-Andreae

According to quantum physics, the world is fundamentally quite different than it seems. Drawing inspiration from the underlying nature of reality, former quantum physicist Julian Voss-Andreae created an image of a walking human as a quantum object. Made up of parallel sheets of steel, the sculpture is a metaphor for the counter-intuitive world of quantum physics. Symbolizing the dual nature of matter with the appearance of classical reality on the surface and cloudy quantum behavior underneath, the sculpture seems to consist of solid steel when seen from the front, but dissolves into almost nothing when seen from the side.

Aage Petersen

Sergey P. Suprun, Anatoly P. Suprun, Victor F. Petrenko

The work by P. Florensky on the extension of geometry from the real region to a complex one under the metaphor of two non-overlapping worlds, real and imaginary, is successively analyzed. Assuming that consciousness functions in terms of a spacetime object-based concept, which actually corresponds to “classical reality”, it is possible to hypothesize that the unconscious is related to the space of states and corresponds to a quantum description from a physical standpoint.

Amit Goswami