Schrödinger's theory in simple words. Schrödinger's cat

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Schrödinger managed to acquire a reputation as an eccentric even among colleagues who themselves were often out of touch with life. The scientist dressed so casually that they did not want to let him into the hotel because they took him for a tramp. Once, at an important conference, Schrödinger refused to talk about nuclear energy and gave a lecture on philosophy.

This controversial person decided to troll the scientific community and came up with a cruel experiment involving a cat and a deadly gas. Fortunately, not a single cat was harmed. And all because the experiment was mental and everything happened only in the imagination of an individual physicist.

A few words about quantum mechanics

Here's a simple example of quantum physics at work. Take 2 empty matchboxes. Place a match in one of them - this is an object of our familiar macrocosm. Now you can say that the match is only in one box, and there is nothing in the other. This is how the Newtonian physics we are familiar with works.

Everything changes if you take an electron instead of a match: it will be located simultaneously in 2 boxes. This is how the laws of quantum physics work.

In 1935, the physicist conducted his famous thought experiment. The original text is in German. Well, we translated it for you from the language of scientists into the language of ordinary people.

• A cat is placed in a closed steel box.
• In addition to the cat in the box, there is an infernal machine with a radioactive core and poisonous gas. The gas is contained in a sealed glass container.
• A radioactive nucleus can decay within 1 hour. Or maybe it won't fall apart. The probability of the event is 50%. (Note: nuclear decay is the easiest example that came to the scientist's mind, because in this case the nucleus has only 2 options. If he had taken any other variable, the results of the experiment would have been difficult to predict.)
• If the nucleus disintegrates, the cat will be out of luck. Because the decay of the nucleus will be detected by a Geiger counter, the relay will work, and a special hammer will break the ampoule with toxic gas. The cat is dead.
• If the nucleus does not decay, the cat remains alive.

To understand the essence of Schrödinger's experiment, you need to get acquainted with another principle of quantum mechanics - observer's paradox .

The radioactive nucleus that threatens our cat is in superposition exactly as long as we we don't observe behind the system. As soon as an observer connects to the system and tries to see what is happening in general, the nucleus (atoms, photons) is finally determined and takes a certain position.

If no one is observing the system (does not go into the box with their measuring instruments), then the nucleus decayed / did not decay at the same time.

But a cat is a completely different matter. He is absolutely alive or absolutely dead. Because the cat, i.e. the macrosystem, is not affected by quantum laws - it consists of many different particles. The radioactive nucleus is in one world, and the cat lives in the world of big things.

The cat doesn't care when you open the lid. This nucleus will/will not decay when the observer appears. And the cat will either be alive or dead whether you look at it or not.

How does the kernel “know” that it is being watched? When people or instruments begin observing or measuring, the particles experience wave (quantum) collapse: they have been in a state of uncertainty for some time (they have many options), and the measurement/observation determines the position of the nucleus in space/time. In simple words, the core from the microworld enters the macroworld. It leaves the zone of action of the laws of quantum physics and falls under the action of Newtonian physics.

"Anyone who isn't shocked by quantum theory, does not understand it,” said Niels Bohr, the founder of quantum theory.
The basis of classical physics is the unambiguous programming of the world, otherwise Laplacean determinism, with the advent of quantum mechanics it was replaced by the invasion of a world of uncertainties and probabilistic events. And here thought experiments came in handy for theoretical physicists. These were the touchstones on which the latest ideas were tested.

"Schrodinger's Cat" is a thought experiment, proposed by Erwin Schrödinger, with whom he wanted to show the incompleteness of quantum mechanics in the transition from subatomic systems to macroscopic systems.

A cat is placed in a closed box. The box contains a mechanism containing a radioactive core and a container of poisonous gas. The probability that the nucleus will decay in 1 hour is 1/2. If the nucleus disintegrates, it activates the mechanism, it opens a container of gas, and the cat dies. According to quantum mechanics, if no observation is made of the nucleus, then its state is described by a superposition (mixing) of two states - a decayed nucleus and an undecayed nucleus, therefore, a cat sitting in a box is both alive and dead at the same time. If the box is opened, then the experimenter can see only one specific state - “the nucleus has decayed, the cat is dead” or “the nucleus has not decayed, the cat is alive.”

When does the system cease to exist? How does one mix two states and choose one specific one?

Purpose of the experiment- show that quantum mechanics is incomplete without some rules indicating under what conditions the wave function collapses (an instantaneous change in the quantum state of an object that occurs when measured), and the cat either becomes dead or remains alive, but ceases to be a mixture of both.

Since it is clear that a cat must be either alive or dead (there is no state intermediate between life and death), this means that this is also true for the atomic nucleus. It will necessarily be either decayed or undecayed.

Schrödinger's paper “The Current Situation in Quantum Mechanics,” presenting a thought experiment with a cat, appeared in the German journal Natural Sciences in 1935 to discuss the EPR paradox.

The papers by Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen and Schrödinger outlined the strange nature of “quantum entanglement” (a term coined by Schrödinger), characteristic of quantum states that are a superposition of the states of two systems (for example, two subatomic particles).

Interpretations of quantum mechanics

During the existence of quantum mechanics, scientists have put forward different interpretations of it, but the most supported of all today are the “Copenhagen” and “many-worlds” ones.

"Copenhagen Interpretation"- this interpretation of quantum mechanics was formulated by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg during their joint work in Copenhagen (1927). Scientists have tried to answer questions arising from the wave-particle duality inherent in quantum mechanics, in particular the question of measurement.

In the Copenhagen interpretation, the system ceases to be a mixture of states and chooses one of them at the moment when the observation occurs. The experiment with the cat shows that in this interpretation the nature of this very observation - measurement - is not sufficiently defined. Some believe that experience suggests that as long as the box is closed, the system is in both states simultaneously, in a superposition of the states “decayed nucleus, dead cat” and “undecayed nucleus, living cat,” and when the box is opened, then only then does the wave function collapse to one of the options. Others guess that the "observation" occurs when a particle from the nucleus hits the detector; however (and this is the key point of the thought experiment) in the Copenhagen interpretation there is no clear rule that says when this happens, and therefore the interpretation is incomplete until such a rule is introduced into it, or is told how it can be introduced. The exact rule is that randomness appears at the point where the classical approximation is first used.

Thus, we can rely on the following approach: in macroscopic systems we do not observe quantum phenomena (except for the phenomenon of superfluidity and superconductivity); therefore, if we impose a macroscopic wave function on a quantum state, we must conclude from experience that the superposition breaks down. And although it is not entirely clear what it means for something to be “macroscopic” in general, what is certain about a cat is that it is a macroscopic object. Thus, the Copenhagen interpretation does not consider that the cat is in a state of confusion between living and dead before the box is opened.

In the "many worlds interpretation" quantum mechanics, which does not consider the measurement process to be something special, both states of the cat exist, but decohere, i.e. a process occurs in which a quantum mechanical system interacts with its environment and acquires information available in the environment, or otherwise becomes “entangled” with the environment. And when the observer opens the box, he becomes entangled with the cat and from this two states of the observer are formed, corresponding to a living and a dead cat, and these states do not interact with each other. The same mechanism of quantum decoherence is important for “joint” histories. In this interpretation, only a “dead cat” or a “live cat” can be in a “shared story.”

In other words, when the box is opened, the universe splits into two different universes, one in which the observer is looking at a box with a dead cat, and in the other, the observer is looking at a living cat.

The paradox of "Wigner's friend"

Wigner's Friend's Paradox is a complicated experiment of the Schrödinger's cat paradox. Nobel Prize winner, American physicist Eugene Wigner introduced the category of “friends”. After completing the experiment, the experimenter opens the box and sees a live cat. The state of the cat at the moment of opening the box goes into the state “the nucleus has not decayed, the cat is alive.” Thus, in the laboratory the cat was recognized as alive. There is a "friend" outside the laboratory. The friend does not yet know whether the cat is alive or dead. The friend recognizes the cat as alive only when the experimenter tells him the outcome of the experiment. But all the other “friends” have not yet recognized the cat as alive, and they will only recognize it when they are told the result of the experiment. Thus, the cat can be recognized as fully alive only when all people in the Universe know the result of the experiment. Until this moment, on the scale of the Big Universe, the cat remains half-alive and half-dead at the same time.

The above is used in practice: in quantum computing and quantum cryptography. A light signal in a superposition of two states is sent through a fiber-optic cable. If attackers connect to the cable somewhere in the middle and make a signal tap there in order to eavesdrop on the transmitted information, then this will collapse the wave function (from the point of view of the Copenhagen interpretation, an observation will be made) and the light will go into one of the states. By conducting statistical tests of light at the receiving end of the cable, it will be possible to detect whether the light is in a superposition of states or has already been observed and transmitted to another point. This makes it possible to create means of communication that exclude undetectable signal interception and eavesdropping.

The experiment (which can in principle be carried out, although working quantum cryptography systems capable of transmitting large amounts of information have not yet been created) also shows that “observation” in the Copenhagen interpretation has nothing to do with the consciousness of the observer, since in this case the change in statistics by the end of the cable leads to a completely inanimate branch of the wire.

And in quantum computing, the Schrödinger cat state is a special entangled state of qubits in which they are all in the same superposition of all zeros or ones.

("Qubit" is the smallest element for storing information in a quantum computer. It admits two eigenstates, but it can also be in their superposition. Whenever the state of a qubit is measured, it randomly transitions to one of its own states.)

In reality! Little brother of "Schrodinger's cat"

It's been 75 years since Schrödinger's cat appeared, but still some of the consequences of quantum physics seem at odds with our everyday ideas about matter and its properties. According to the laws of quantum mechanics, it should be possible to create a “cat” state in which it is both alive and dead, i.e. will be in a state of quantum superposition of two states. However, in practice, the creation of a quantum superposition of such a large number of atoms has not yet been possible. The difficulty is that the more atoms there are in a superposition, the less stable this state is, since external influences tend to destroy it.

To physicists from the University of Vienna (publication in the journal Nature Communications", 2011) for the first time in the world it was possible to demonstrate the quantum behavior of an organic molecule consisting of 430 atoms and in a state of quantum superposition. The molecule obtained by the experimenters looks more like an octopus. The size of the molecules is about 60 angstroms, and the de Broglie wavelength for the molecule was only 1 picometer. This “molecular octopus” was able to demonstrate the properties inherent in Schrödinger’s cat.

Quantum suicide

Quantum suicide is a thought experiment in quantum mechanics that was proposed independently by G. Moravec and B. Marshall, and was expanded in 1998 by cosmologist Max Tegmark. This thought experiment, a modification of the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, clearly shows the difference between two interpretations of quantum mechanics: the Copenhagen interpretation and the Everett many-worlds interpretation.

The experiment is actually an experiment with Schrödinger's cat from the cat's point of view.

In the proposed experiment, a gun is pointed at the participant, which fires or does not fire depending on the decay of some radioactive atom. There is a 50% chance that the gun will go off and the participant will die. If the Copenhagen interpretation is correct, then the gun will eventually go off and the participant will die.
If Everett’s many-worlds interpretation is correct, then as a result of each experiment conducted, the universe splits into two universes, in one of which the participant remains alive, and in the other dies. In worlds where a participant dies, he ceases to exist. In contrast, from the perspective of the non-dead participant, the experiment will continue without causing the participant to disappear. This happens because in any branch the participant is able to observe the result of the experiment only in the world in which he survives. And if the many-worlds interpretation is correct, then the participant may notice that he will never die during the experiment.

The participant will never be able to talk about these results, since from the point of view of an outside observer, the probability of the outcome of the experiment will be the same in both the many-worlds and the Copenhagen interpretations.

Quantum immortality

Quantum immortality is a thought experiment that stems from the quantum suicide thought experiment and states that, according to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, beings that have the capacity for self-awareness are immortal.

Let's imagine that a participant in an experiment detonates a nuclear bomb near him. In almost all parallel Universes, a nuclear explosion will destroy the participant. But despite this, there must be a small number of alternative Universes in which the participant somehow survives (that is, Universes in which a potential rescue scenario is possible). The idea of ​​quantum immortality is that the participant remains alive, and thereby is able to perceive the surrounding reality, in at least one of the Universes in the set, even if the number of such universes is extremely small compared to the number of all possible Universes. Thus, over time, the participant will discover that he can live forever. Some parallels to this conclusion can be found in the concept of the anthropic principle.

Another example stems from the idea of ​​quantum suicide. In this thought experiment, the participant points a gun at himself, which may or may not fire depending on the outcome of the decay of some radioactive atom. There is a 50% chance that the gun will go off and the participant will die. If the Copenhagen interpretation is correct, then the gun will eventually go off and the participant will die.

If Everett’s many-worlds interpretation is correct, then as a result of each experiment conducted, the universe splits into two universes, in one of which the participant remains alive, and in the other dies. In worlds where a participant dies, he ceases to exist. On the contrary, from the point of view of the non-dead participant, the experiment will continue without causing the participant to disappear, since after each split of universes he will be able to recognize himself only in those universes where he survived. Thus, if Everett's many-worlds interpretation is correct, then the participant may notice that he will never die in the experiment, thereby "proving" his immortality, at least from his point of view.

Proponents of quantum immortality point out that this theory does not contradict any known laws of physics (this position is far from unanimously accepted in the scientific world). In their reasoning, they rely on the following two controversial assumptions:
- Everett’s many-worlds interpretation is correct, not the Copenhagen interpretation, since the latter denies the existence of parallel universes;
- all possible scenarios in which a participant may die during the experiment contain at least a small subset of scenarios in which the participant remains alive.

A possible argument against the theory of quantum immortality is that the second assumption does not necessarily follow from Everett's many-worlds interpretation, and it may conflict with the laws of physics, which are believed to apply to all possible realities. The many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics does not necessarily imply that “anything is possible.” It only indicates that at a certain point in time the universe can be divided into a number of others, each of which will correspond to one of the many possible outcomes. For example, the second law of thermodynamics is believed to apply to all probable universes. This means that, theoretically, the existence of this law prevents the formation of parallel universes where it would be violated. The consequence of this may be the achievement, from the point of view of the experimenter, of a state of reality where his further survival becomes impossible, since this would require a violation of the law of physics, which, according to the previously stated assumption, is valid for all possible realities.

For example, in the nuclear bomb explosion described above, it is quite difficult to describe a plausible scenario that does not violate basic biological principles in which the participant will survive. Living cells simply cannot exist at the temperatures reached at the center of a nuclear explosion. In order for the theory of quantum immortality to remain valid, it is necessary that either a misfire occurs (and thereby avoid a nuclear explosion), or some event occurs that is based on as yet undiscovered or unproven laws of physics. Another argument against the theory under discussion can be the presence of natural biological death in all creatures, which cannot be avoided in any of the parallel Universes (at least at this stage of the development of science)

On the other hand, the second law of thermodynamics is a statistical law, and nothing is contradicted by the occurrence of fluctuations (for example, the appearance of a region with conditions suitable for the life of an observer in a universe that has generally reached a state of thermal death; or, in principle, the possible movement of all particles resulting from nuclear explosion, in such a way that each of them will fly past the observer), although such a fluctuation will occur only in an extremely small part of all possible outcomes. The argument regarding the inevitability of biological death can also be refuted on the basis of probabilistic considerations. For every living organism at a given moment in time, there is a non-zero probability that it will remain alive during the next second. Thus, the probability that he will remain alive for the next billion years is also non-zero (since it is the product of a large number of non-zero factors), although very small.

What is problematic about the idea of ​​quantum immortality is that according to it, a self-aware being will be “forced” to experience extremely unlikely events that will arise in situations in which the participant would seem to die. Even though in many parallel universes the participant dies, the few universes that the participant is able to subjectively perceive will develop in an extremely unlikely scenario. This, in turn, may in some way cause a violation of the principle of causality, the nature of which in quantum physics is not yet clear enough.

Although the idea of ​​quantum immortality stems largely from the “quantum suicide” experiment, Tegmark argues that under any normal conditions, every thinking being before death goes through a stage (from a few seconds to several years) of decreasing level of self-awareness, which has nothing to do with quantum mechanics. and the participant has no possibility of continued existence by moving from one world to another, which gives him the opportunity to survive.

Here, a self-aware intelligent observer continues to remain in, so to speak, a “healthy body” only in a relatively small number of possible states in which he retains self-consciousness. The possibility that the observer, while retaining consciousness, will remain crippled is much greater than if he remains unharmed. Any system (including a living organism) has much more opportunities to function incorrectly than to remain in ideal shape. Boltzmann's ergodic hypothesis requires that the immortal observer will sooner or later go through all states compatible with the preservation of consciousness, including those in which he will feel unbearable suffering - and there will be significantly more such states than states of optimal functioning of the organism. Thus, as philosopher David Lewis suggests, we should hope that the many-worlds interpretation is wrong.

Can a cat be both alive and dead at the same time? How many parallel universes are there? And do they even exist? These are not science fiction questions at all, but very real scientific problems solved by quantum physics.

So let's start with Schrödinger's cat. This is a thought experiment proposed by Erwin Schrödinger to point out a paradox that exists in quantum physics. The essence of the experiment is as follows.

An imaginary cat is simultaneously placed in a closed box, as well as the same imaginary mechanism with a radioactive core and a container of poisonous gas. According to the experiment, if the nucleus disintegrates, it will activate the mechanism: the gas container will open and the cat will die. The probability of nuclear decay is 1 in 2.

The paradox is that, according to quantum mechanics, if the nucleus is not observed, then the cat is in a so-called superposition, in other words, the cat is simultaneously in mutually exclusive states (it is both alive and dead). However, if the observer opens the box, he can verify that the cat is in one specific state: it is either alive or dead. According to Schrödinger, the incompleteness of quantum theory lies in the fact that it does not specify under what conditions a cat ceases to be in superposition and turns out to be either alive or dead.

This paradox is compounded by Wigner's experiment, which adds the category of friends to an already existing thought experiment. According to Wigner, when the experimenter opens the box, he will know whether the cat is alive or dead. For the experimenter, the cat ceases to be in superposition, but for the friend who is behind the door, and who does not yet know about the results of the experiment, the cat is still somewhere “between life and death.” This can be continued with an infinite number of doors and friends, and according to similar logic, the cat will be in a superposition until all people in the Universe know what the experimenter saw when he opened the box.

How does quantum physics explain such a paradox? Quantum physics offers a thought experiment quantum suicide and two possible scenarios based on different interpretations of quantum mechanics.

In a thought experiment, a gun is pointed at the participant and either it will fire as a result of the decay of a radioactive atom or it will not. Again, 50 to 50. Thus, the participant in the experiment will either die or not, but for now he is, like Schrödinger’s cat, in superposition.

This situation can be interpreted in different ways from the point of view of quantum mechanics. According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the gun will eventually go off and the participant will die. According to Everett's interpretation, superposition provides for the presence of two parallel universes in which the participant simultaneously exists: in one of them he is alive (the gun did not fire), in the second he is dead (the gun fired). However, if the many-worlds interpretation is correct, then in one of the universes the participant always remains alive, which leads to the idea of ​​​​the existence of "quantum immortality".

As for Schrödinger’s cat and the observer of the experiment, then, according to Everett’s interpretation, he also finds himself and the cat in two Universes at once, that is, in “quantum language”, “entangled” with him.

It sounds like a story from a science fiction novel, however, it is one of many scientific theories that have a place in modern physics.

Perhaps some of you have heard the phrase “Schrödinger’s cat.” However, for most people this name means nothing.

If you consider yourself a thinking subject, and even claim to be an intellectual, then you should definitely find out what Schrödinger’s cat is and why he became famous in.

Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment proposed by the Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger. This talented scientist received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933.

Through his famous experiment, he wanted to show the incompleteness of quantum mechanics in the transition from subatomic to macroscopic systems.

Erwin Schrödinger tried to explain his theory using the original example of a cat. He wanted to make it as simple as possible so that his idea could be understood by anyone.

Whether he succeeded or not, you will find out by reading the article to the end.

The essence of the Schrödinger's Cat experiment

Suppose a certain cat is locked in a steel chamber with such an infernal machine (which must be protected from direct intervention by the cat): inside the Geiger counter there is such a tiny amount of radioactive material that only one atom can decay within an hour, but with the same probability may not disintegrate; if this happens, the reading tube is discharged and the relay is activated, releasing the hammer, which breaks the flask with hydrocyanic acid.

If we leave this entire system to itself for an hour, then we can say that the cat will be alive after this time, as long as the atom does not disintegrate.

The very first disintegration of the atom would poison the cat. The psi-function of the system as a whole will express this by mixing or smearing a living and a dead cat (pardon the expression) in equal parts.

What is typical in such cases is that uncertainty originally limited to the atomic world is transformed into macroscopic uncertainty, which can be eliminated by direct observation.

This prevents us from naively accepting the “blur model” as reflecting reality. This in itself does not mean anything unclear or contradictory.

There's a difference between a blurry or out-of-focus photo and a photo of clouds or fog.

In other words, we have a box and a cat. The box contains a device with a radioactive atomic nucleus and a container of poisonous gas.

During the experiment, the probability of decay or non-decay of the nucleus is equal to 50%. Therefore, if it decays, the animal will die, and if the nucleus does not decay, Schrödinger’s cat will remain alive.

We lock the cat in a box and wait for an hour, reflecting on the frailty of life.

According to the laws of quantum mechanics, the nucleus (and, consequently, the cat itself) can simultaneously be in all possible states (see quantum superposition).

Until the moment the box is opened, the “cat-core” system assumes two possible outcomes of events: “nucleus decay - the cat is dead” with a probability of 50%, and “nucleus decay did not happen - the cat is alive” with the same degree of probability.

It turns out that Schrödinger's cat, sitting inside the box, is both alive and dead at the same time.

The interpretation of the Copenhagen interpretation says that in any case, the cat is alive and dead at the same time. The choice of nuclear decay occurs not when we open the box, but also when the nucleus hits the detector.

This is due to the fact that the reduction of the wave function of the “cat-detector-core” system is in no way interconnected with the person observing from the outside. It is directly connected to the detector-observer of the atomic nucleus.

Schrödinger's cat in simple words

According to the laws of quantum mechanics, if there is no observation of the atomic nucleus, it can be dual: that is, decay will either happen or not.

It follows from this that the cat, which is in the box and represents the nucleus, can be both alive and dead at the same time.

But the moment the observer decides to open the box, he will be able to see only one of 2 possible states.

But now a logical question arises: when exactly does the system cease to exist in a dual form?

Thanks to this experience, Schrödinger argued that quantum mechanics is incomplete without certain rules explaining when the wave function collapses.

Considering the fact that Schrödinger's cat sooner or later must become either alive or dead, then this will be similar for the atomic nucleus: atomic decay will either happen or not.

The essence of experience in human language

Schrödinger, using the example of a cat, wanted to show that according to quantum mechanics, an animal will be both alive and dead at the same time. This is, in fact, impossible, from which the conclusion is drawn that quantum mechanics today has significant flaws.

Video from "The Big Bang Theory"

The character of the series Sheldon Cooper tried to explain to his “close-minded” friend the essence of the Schrödinger’s Cat experiment. To do this, he used the example of the relationship between a man and a woman.

To find out what kind of relationship they have, you just need to open the box. In the meantime, it will be closed, their relationship can be both positive and negative at the same time.

Did Schrödinger's cat survive the experience?

If any of our readers are worried about the cat, then you should calm down. During the experiment, none of them died, and Schrödinger himself called his experiment mental, that is, one that is carried out exclusively in the mind.

We hope you understand the essence of the Schrödinger's Cat experiment. If you have any questions, you can ask them in the comments. And, of course, share this article on social networks.

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is a thought experiment by physicist Erwin Schrödinger, the essence of which is that the cat in the box is both alive and dead. Thus, the scientist proved the incompleteness of quantum mechanics during the transition from subatomic systems to macroscopic ones.

Origin

The Austrian theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger proposed an experiment with a cat in a box in his article “The Current Situation in Quantum Mechanics” (Die gegenwärtige Situation in der Quantenmechanik) in the publication Naturwissenschaften in 1935.

We take the cat and put it in the box. The box contains an atomic nucleus and a container with poisonous gas. The probability of nuclear disintegration is 50%; if it occurs, the gas container will open and the cat will die. If decay does not occur, the cat is alive. According to the basics of quantum mechanics, before we open the box, the cat is in a state of quantum superposition - that is, in all states at the same time.

It turns out that in the “cat-core” system, a cat can be alive or dead with the same probability of 50%. Or he is both alive and dead at the same time.

Popularity on the Internet

The issue of Schrödinger’s cat was first discussed on the Internet in May 1990 on the Usenet’s sci.physics forum. On August 9, 2000, a poem dedicated to Schrödinger's cat was published on the Straight Dope Q&A forum.

In August 2004, the online store ThinkGeek began selling T-shirts with the words “Schrodinger's Cat Died.”

On January 4, 2006, a Schrödinger comic was released in the Xkcd comic series.

” – The last panel of this comic is funny and unfunny at the same time. Until you read it, you can't tell how it will turn out in the end.

- Crap"

On June 2, 2007, the I Can Has Cheezburger website published a picture of a cat in a box with the caption: “In your quantum box... one cat... maybe.”

The crowning glory of Schrödinger's cat's popularity was a Google Doodle dedicated to him, which appeared on August 12, 2013, the day of Erwin Schrödinger's 126th birthday.

Popular culture references

A significant role in the popularization of Schrödinger's cat in popular culture was played by films, TV series, books and computer games where this experiment was mentioned. Let's give just a few examples.

In episode 16 of the sixth season of Futurama, the police detain Schrödinger and his cat.

In the second episode of the first season of “Rick and Morty,” the main characters meet Schrödinger’s cats in a parallel reality.

Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory used Schrödinger's cat theory to explain to Penny how relationships between men and women work.

Meaning

Schrödinger's cat is not only an Internet meme, but also a hero of popular culture. The cat, which is both alive and dead, symbolizes a certain ambiguity. Schrödinger is remembered when something is both funny and not, or when something is both prohibited and permitted. For example, a traffic light with red and green lights on at the same time is a Schrödinger traffic light.

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