To Be…Or Not To Be?
That is the question.
We are aware that we live in a universe where many things are possible. From black holes to planets like our own, we can say there are many secrets to be discovered. Yet, all things are made up of smaller things.
Here, we dive into the microscopic world, a world that sets the foundation of energy and matter.
Quantum mechanics is a foundational theory in physics that deals with the behaviour of matter and light at the atomic and subatomic scale.
Schrödinger, a physicist, created an imaginary experiment: At the beginning of an hour, a cat would be placed in a box with a little bit of radioactive substance. If the radioactive substance were to decay, it would immediately release a poison that would kill the cat. At the end of the hour, the probability of the cat being alive and dead is equal. It’s likely that the radioactive substance decayed and killed the animal, but it’s also likely that nothing happened and the cat is alive and well. No one truly knows what happened unless they open the box to take a look. Due to the uncertainty, Schrödinger’s cat seems both dead and alive simultaneously.
This is very similar to the events of the subatomic realm, and how scientists are able to understand them.
As charged particles move, they create a magnetic field. This magnetic field is used to measure the particles and see how they interact with each other. These subatomic particles behave not like waves or particles- but both and neither at the same time, fluctuating between both states.
In the Stern-Gerlach-Experiment conducted in 1922, a beam of electrons was sent through two magnets. After the electrons passed through the magnets, they separated into two distinct groups.
We call this spin. Particles will have one of two types of spin- spin up or spin down, depending on what their magnetic field is. However, only one of the directions will be definite at any one time. If one particle has a certain measurement, the measurement of the other will be the opposite.
Before a particle and its counterpart- Particle A and Particle B- are observed by scientists, we have no idea what their measurement is. Both have a fifty percent chance of being spin up or spin down. This is when both particles are entangled- in a state of superposition. It’s until after we figure out Particle A has a spin up that we automatically know Particle B’s measurement!
However, some physicists are believed to have misinterpreted quantum theory. Scientists at that time believed that quantum particles collapsed (wave function collapses, due to fluctuation between being waves and particles at the same time) to a single state only after being observed- that outcomes are made possible because of an observer.
Schrödinger disagreed that conscious observers drove the outcomes of a situation. His experiment demonstrates the logical but strange outcomes to these claims.
Referring back to his famous experiment, there is no observer to witness the decay of radioactive substance as it kills the cat, so the wellbeing of the animal stays unknown.
Scientifically, a cat cannot be living and dead at the same time; that would be unrealistic.
The observer can only tell what happens when they see the situation for themselves. In the same way, wavefunction collapses can’t solely be based off of the observer.
Einstein agreed with Schrödinger’s way of thinking.
“Is the state of the cat to be created only when a physicist investigates the situation at some definite time?” Einstein asked.
Theoretical aspects aside, quantum mechanics has great practical benefits for the world. For example, it is used in quantum computing- which uses the science of particles in a state of superposition- to create much faster and efficient technologies. The science behind quantum mechanics has also been applied to telling the time. Atomic clocks are an extremely accurate clock which measures time according to vibrations within atoms.
Additionally, scientists have been researching ways to directly manipulate quantum states in order to develop quantum cryptography. This will theoretically allow for information to be transmitted more securely, preventing it from possibly being misused by third parties for fraud.
Thinking like a quantum physicist could help unravel the enigmas of the universe…that things aren’t necessarily absolute, but fluctuate between states.
Images produced by the Author except otherwise noted. Thanks to Sharena Rice, PhD for proofreading.
