A QUANTUM LEAP OF POSSIBILITIES
Imagine placing a cat and a vial of poison into an opaque box. Within that spaced time, it is deemed to be simultaneously dead and alive. It is only when you open the box, that its final state may be determined. (The act of observation determines its reality.)
The experiment, known as Schrödinger's Cat, named after the celebrated Nobel prize winning physicist who "first described such a thought experiment”.
Schrödinger’s Cat demonstrates quantum superposition, an aspect of Quantum Mechanics, the science that enables us to build lasers and power stations. It also explains why the sun stays hot, how DNA is confined within the nucleus of a cell, and the beginnings of our universe. It has made possible today's understanding of the world and the life we lead in it.
Quantum Mechanics is also widely influential in popular culture. Schrödinger’s Cat has even been referenced to in TV shows like Futurama, Doctor Who, and The Big Bang Theory and in the works of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. Perhaps this explanation in the Big Bang Theory could shed some light.
Could we use Quantum Mechanics to influence our thinking, shape the way we see and do things? One in which all possibilities are equally probable until the moment of determination.
It’s about taking our cat out of the box and turning it into reality. Is the cat male or female?
Nicholas Paul
Principal
Aretése
