Quantum Superposition

What it's about:

It took some time for Schrödinger to part with traditional physics, but he quickly saw how the scientific world did not fully perceive the impact of the quantum theory. He set out to show how quantum theory was really a completely unknown and conter-intuitive world.

From his mathematical findings, he derived the concept of quantum superposition, illustrated by "the cat in a box" thought experiment.

The Quantum World:

• Position:
  Quantum particles can be in two positions at the same time.
• State:
  Quantum particles can be in two states at the same time (wave and particle for example).
• Mesure:
  Quantum particles are forced to choose a state and a position when mesured.

Erwin Schrödinger

Erwin Schrödinger was born in August 1887 in Austria. From a deeply religious household, he quickly defined himself as atheist, yet kept an interest for religious that is omnipresent in his work. He would keep an interest in philosophy and spiritualism throughout his life.

In 1927, he succeeded Max Planck at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin but left Germany in 1934 because he was uneasy with Nazi anti-semitism. After teaching at Oxford and Princeton, but not being met with acceptance because of his unconventional living arrangements (He lived with his wife and his mistress), he returned to Graz, Austria in 1936.

Schrödinger won the Nobel prize in 1933 with Paul Dirac, for formulating equations accuracy describing energy levels in atoms (relying on quantum theory). He would later formulate his famous "Cat in a Box” thought experiment.

Where?

Discovery Description:

The wave equation that Schrödinger published came from a dissatisfaction from Bohr’s orbit theory, and the common duality made in between "wave” and "particle” that was made in the scientific community.

His equations use conservation of energy to explain how our traditional perception of the world doesn't apply to the quantum world. The "cat in a box" thought experiment is one of the outcome of his mathematical findings.

The though experiment goes like this: "Say you have a cat in a box, with device that releases poison only when a radioactive atom decays. From outside the box, there is no way of knowing weather the poison has been released or not, and, therefor, the cat is both dead and alive at the same time from our point of view. This demonstrated better the outcome of his equations.

Related Topics:

Video:

Simon Meienberg - Being Superquantum.