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Schrödinger’s Cat is a thought experiment in quantum physics that highlights the problem of relying on observation alone. A cat in a sealed box with a vial of poison and a radioactive substance could be both alive and dead until observed. This paradox illustrates the difficulty of observing subatomic systems without affecting their behavior. The experiment was meant to show the limitations of observation, but the use of a cat as a potential victim has caused controversy.
It’s important to note that no real, real or superimposed cats were harmed in the creation of this wiseGEEK article. (Inside joke for physics graduates).
Erwin Schrödinger was a contemporary of other prominent physicists such as Albert Einstein and Neils Bohr, although he was more interested in a relatively new field called quantum physics. Quantum physics in general ran counter to much of what Einstein and Bohr considered scientific fact, which led to a series of high-level debates between Schrödinger and Einstein. One such topic contained a paradoxical thought experiment that we now know as Schrödinger’s cat, although the cat was never more than theoretical.
One of the problems inherent in subatomic systems is the difficulty of human observation. Subatomic particles can be assumed to behave in a certain way, but introducing a microscope or camera to observe them in action can adversely affect the natural behavior of the subatomic system. This would be the equivalent of a class of students changing their behavior once they discover a documentary film crew in the room. The same thing happens when physicists try to observe very small objects.
“Schrödinger’s Cat” is essentially an object lesson on the problems of relying on observation alone when dealing with subatomic systems. Schrödinger suggested an experiment in which a living cat would be placed in a cage on the side of a metal tube. Near the cat would be a vial containing poisonous gas and a trigger mechanism. A scientist would put a very small amount of a radioactive substance on the other end of the tube. This radioactive material would decay at the rate of one atom per hour, but the odds of that happening are fifty-fifty. If an atom were actually released, the vial of poisonous gas would rupture and the cat would die. No atomic decay would mean the cat lives.
Once this theoretical tube was sealed, no outside observation would have been possible. No one would be able to check into “Schrödinger’s Cat” for a full hour. After 60 minutes, the question for the experimenter would be “Is Schrödinger’s cat alive or dead?”. According to Einstein’s theories, the cat would be dead or alive, with no middle ground. Only when the tube was opened and the cat’s status became observable could a definitive answer be found. Einstein would see a dead or alive cat, since God doesn’t play dice with the universe.
According to Schrödinger’s theory of quantum physics, however, the cat is actually in two different states at the same time. One version of the cat is dead, but another is still alive. This is the way subatomic systems should work as well, which creates the paradox. A cat lives in a macroscopic system, where objects either live or don’t live. There is no in between, like half a living cat. In quantum physics, however, the theoretical Schrödinger’s cat could exist in various states, from fully alive to dead and everything in between. All of these states, known as superposition, are possible outcomes of the experiment, although only one could be observed to be true when the scientist examined the cat.
Schrödinger himself later expressed regret for using a cat as a potential victim of a paradoxical thought experiment. The original purpose of him was to illustrate some of the problems of observing subatomic systems and to draw conclusions when the act of observation could skew the results. By taking the paradox out of the smaller subatomic world and moving it into the larger macroscopic world, Schrödinger did indeed prove his point to Einstein and others, but his theoretical lesson would forever be known as “Schrödinger’s Cat.”
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