Can Superposition and Wavefunction Collapse be Visually Demonstrated?

kyoto
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Hello, I need a help for making a short visual presentation of superposition and wavefunction collapse. It will be a power-point presentation for young students.

I have an idea to show a superposition as a "perfect noise", which can be visually achieved as a uniform gray background or total blur (no difference between pixels value).

But what happens when we make a measurement?

I have an idea to show it as kind of spotlight ring (measurement) "lit" onto this uniform backround, disturbing the superposition, so the noise appears in the ring. In this noise each pixel value is different, which would show the state pinned down during measurement. How would you show this subject in a simplest way possible?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
A great way to demonstrate this visually would be to start with a blank slide containing just the uniform gray background. Then, gradually, add a spotlight effect to the slide, using a radial gradient which increases in intensity from the center outwards. This will demonstrate the measurement process, and how it causes the wavefunction to collapse. You could also add a layer of text above the slide to explain the concept of superposition and wavefunction collapse. Finally, you could add a few animations to show how the noise appears within the spotlight ring, demonstrating that each pixel value is different. This should help to make the concept easier for young students to understand.
 
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. Towards the end of the first lecture for the Qiskit Global Summer School 2025, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Olivia Lanes (Global Lead, Content and Education IBM) stated... Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/quantum-entanglement-is-a-kinematic-fact-not-a-dynamical-effect/ by @RUTA
If we release an electron around a positively charged sphere, the initial state of electron is a linear combination of Hydrogen-like states. According to quantum mechanics, evolution of time would not change this initial state because the potential is time independent. However, classically we expect the electron to collide with the sphere. So, it seems that the quantum and classics predict different behaviours!
According to recent podcast between Jacob Barandes and Sean Carroll, Barandes claims that putting a sensitive qubit near one of the slits of a double slit interference experiment is sufficient to break the interference pattern. Here are his words from the official transcript: Is that true? Caveats I see: The qubit is a quantum object, so if the particle was in a superposition of up and down, the qubit can be in a superposition too. Measuring the qubit in an orthogonal direction might...
Back
Top