Schrodinger's Cat Experiment Proposed

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: bobr () bobrosenberg phoenix az us
> Date: September 27, 2009 3:46:54 EDT
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Schrodinger's Cat Experiment Proposed

> Hi Dave
>
> I just noticed this item from the Max Planck Institute for Quantum  
> Physics regarding
> Schrodinger's Cat.
>
> Perhaps we'll finally learn the answer.
>
> But I'm uncertain (Sorry, but I really couldn't resist that).   ;-)
>
> Cheers,
> Bob
>
>
> --
> Bob Rosenberg
> P.O. Box 33023
> Phoenix, AZ  85067-3023
> Mobile:  602-206-2856
> LandLine:  602-274-3012
> bob () bobrosenberg phoenix az us
>
>
>
>
> Schrodinger's Cat Experiment Proposed
> September 24th, 2009 by Sheeraz M. Hyder Schrodinger's cat
> http://www.physorg.com/news173026471.html
>
> Schrodinger's cat. Image by Dhatfield, Wikimedia Commons.
>
> (PhysOrg.com) -- One of the classical problems in quantum mechanics  
> concerns a man
> and his feline companion. The man has placed his cat in an opaque  
> tank and is
> slowing pumping it full of poison. Now until the man opens the tank  
> and looks
> inside, he cannot be sure whether the cat is dead or alive. That is  
> to say, the cat
> is both dead and alive at the same time. Impossible but such is the  
> nature of the
> problem that faced this man. The man's name is Erwin Schrodinger and  
> the problem is
> that of his Uncertainty Principle.
>
> For nearly a century, his problem has remained a quixotic quest for  
> physicists.
> Particle physics has always held that matter can only exist at one  
> state in one
> time. That is why particles are classified as moving with an up or  
> down spin but
> nothing in between. In recent years that rule has been bent with the  
> superposition
> of atoms and other nonliving things. Superposition is the term for  
> an object that is
> not being observed that exists as both possibilities: up and down,  
> dead and alive.
> This allows physicists to observe the matter in two different states  
> at the same
> time. However, thus far it has only been done with non-living  
> things. A life-form
> has never been superimposed. Now, one physicist says he may have an  
> answer.
>
> Oriol Romero-Isart is at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum  
> Physics in Garching in
> Germany. Along with his team he is proposing a "Schrodinger's virus"  
> experiment that
> would follow the same general principles of Schrodinger's Cat. Using  
> an
> electromagnetic field created by a laser, the virus would be trapped  
> in a vacuum.
> Then, using another laser, the virus will be slowed down until it  
> lies motionless in
> its lowest possible energy state.
>
> Now that the virus is fixed, a single photon is used to put the  
> virus into a
> superposition of two states, moving and non-moving. Up until the  
> point is measured
> it is in both states. Only after a measurement is it found to be in  
> one state and
> one alone. The team has suggested that the tobacco mosaic virus be  
> used. The virus
> is rod-shaped and measures 50 nanometers wide and approximately 1  
> micrometer long.
> There is debate however, whether the virus can truly be classified  
> as "alive."
> However the scientists are confident that the treatment could be  
> extended to tiny
> micro-organisms such as tardigrades who can survive in vacuum for  
> days, making them
> suitable for the "Schrodinger treatment."
>
> However, physicists are doubtful about the experiment's results.  
> Martin Plenio of
> Imperial College in London says that there is little reason that a  
> virus would
> behave any differently than a similarly-sized inanimate object.  
> However, there are
> possibilities in testing large objects such as viruses and  
> molecules. This is
> because quantum mechanics says that macroscopic objects can enter  
> superposition
> however, it has never happened. Through these studies, Plenio  
> believes that we will
> finally be able to bridge the divide between the quantum world and  
> our own
> macroscopic world.
>
> More information:
>
> • Towards Quantum Superposition of Living Organisms, arxiv.org/abs/0909.14 
> 69
>
> • Schrödinger's cat on Wikipedia.
>
> © 2009 PhysOrg.com



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