Good. Schrodinger's cat is not an example of superposition, it is an example of how not to use superposition. Many popular "explanations" of the cat misunderstand what Schrodinger was doing when he described the thought experiment; in fact he was arguing that the idea of a cat in a superposition of dead and alive was absurd, and therefore that something was wrong with the then-current (almost a century ago) understanding of QM because it seemed to predict that result. We have many older threads here about this.Bianca Meske said:I'm a student trying to explain quantum superposition without using Schrodinger's cat.
Not so good. Wave-particle duality was recognized as a wrong turn in the development of quantum mechanics at about the same time that Schrodinger proposed the cat. Again, many oversimplified presentations of the theory miss this, and we have many threads about it.Instead, I'm trying to use the principal of wave particle duality to explain how a particle can be in multiple states (and locations) at once before it is observed due to wave properties.
Some of the best examples of superposition come from photons directed at polarizers. The states "vertically polarized" and "horizontally polarized" can be written as superpositions of "polarized 45 degrees left" and "polarized 45 degrees right"; and the two 45 degree states can be written as superpositions of vertically polarized and horizontally polarized.However, I'm unsure how to do this effectively and simply for others to understand. Any ideas?
Bianca Meske said:I'm a student trying to explain quantum superposition without using Schrodinger's cat. Instead, I'm trying to use the principal of wave particle duality to explain how a particle can be in multiple states (and locations) at once before it is observed due to wave properties. However, I'm unsure how to do this effectively and simply for others to understand. Any ideas?
Quantum superposition is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics that describes the ability of a quantum system to exist in multiple states or positions simultaneously.
In quantum mechanics, particles can exist in a state of superposition, meaning they can exist in multiple states at the same time. This is possible due to the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics, where particles have a certain probability of being in a particular state at any given time.
An example of quantum superposition is the famous Schrödinger's cat thought experiment, where a cat is placed in a box with a radioactive substance that has a 50% chance of decaying and releasing poison, killing the cat. In this scenario, the cat is considered to be both alive and dead until the box is opened and the state is observed.
Classical superposition refers to the ability of a physical system to be in multiple states at the same time, but this is only possible at the macroscopic level. In contrast, quantum superposition is a property of particles at the microscopic level and is governed by different laws and principles.
Quantum superposition has many practical applications, including in quantum computing, cryptography, and communication. It also plays a crucial role in technologies such as MRI machines and atomic clocks.