Quotes About Superposition

particle in a superposition between location X and location Y is in a strange state of being both at X and at Y while being definitely at neither.

When I behold a rich landscape, it is less to my purpose to recite correctly the order and superposition of the strata, than to know why all thought of multitude is lost in a tranquil sense of unity.

Cosmologist Stephen Hawking is reported to have said, "Whenever I hear of Schrödinger's cat, I want to reach for my gun.

When I hear of Schrödinger's cat, I reach for my pistol.

We've known since 2007 that there's superposition in chlorophyll, for instance. Photosynthesis has a ninety-five percent energy-transfer efficiency rate, which is better than anything we can engineer. Plants achieve that by using superposition to simultaneously try all the possible pathways between their light-collecting molecules and their reaction-center proteins so that energy is always sent down the most efficient route; it's a form of biological quantum computing.

It is important to bear in mind that this is a property of single photons. Each individual photon must be considered to feel out both routes that are open to it, but it remains one photon; it does not split into two photons in the intermediate stage, but its location undergoes the strange kind of complex-number weighted co-existence of alternatives that is characteristic of quantum theory.

Though it indeed seems reasonable to rule out space-time geometries with closed timelike lines as descriptions of the classical universe, a case can be made that they should not be ruled out as potential occurrences that could be involved in a quantum superposition.

In general, when we consider an object in a superposition of two spatially displaced states, we simply ask for the energy that it would take to effect this displacement, considering only the gravitational interaction between the two. The reciprocal of this energy measures a kind of 'half-life' for the superposed state. The larger this energy, the shorter would be the time that the superposed state could persist.

Now I existed solely thanks to the quantum paradox, my brain a collection of qubits in quantum superposition, encoding truths and memories, imagination and irrationality in opposing, contradictory states that existed and didn't exist, all at the same time.

The situation is now ripe for superposition!

Because a quantum computer deals with 1's and 0's that are in a quantum superposition, they are called quantum bits, or qubits (pronounced "cubits"). The advantage of qubits becomes even clearer when we consider more particles.

250 qubits, it is possible to represent roughly 1075 combinations, which is greater than the number of atoms in the universe. If it were possible to achieve the appropriate superposition with 250 particles, then a quantum computer could perform 1075 simultaneous computations

As a measurement apparatus interacts with a quantum system, the two become entangled with each other. There are no wave-function collapses or classical realms. The apparatus itself evolves into a superposition, entangled with the state of the thing being observed.

MIGUEL DE UNAMUNO

Before an observation is made, an object exists in all possible states simultaneously. To determine which state the object is in, we have to make an observation, which "collapses" the wave function, and the object goes into a definite state. The act of observation destroys the wave function, and the object now assumes a definite reality.

the right slit—and since

In fact, the mere act of opening the box will determine the state of the cat, although in this case there were three determinate states the cat could be in: these being Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious.

Rule 2 raises a whole bunch of questions. Does the wave function collapse abruptly or does it take some time? Does the collapse take place as soon as the system interacts with the detector? Or only later, when a record is made? Or perhaps later still, when it is perceived by a conscious mind? Is the collapse a physical change, which means that the quantum state is real? Or is it just a change in our knowledge of the system, which means the

But were we mere atoms, interference between full and empty branches of the wave function would be happening all the time.

the simple algebraic equation ?+k3 = 0. This is called the dispersion relation of (1): with the help of the Fourier transform it is not hard to show that every solution is a superposition of solutions of the form ei(kx-?t), and the dispersion relation tells us how the "wave number" k is related to the "angular frequency" ? in each of these elementary solutions.

single electron, or a single photon, on its way through one hole in the wall, obeys the statistical laws which are only appropriate if it 'knows' whether or not the other hole is open. This is the central mystery of the quantum world.

Somewhere around the place I've got an unfinished short story about Schrodinger's Dog; it was mostly moaning about all the attention the cat was getting.

in quantum physics every alternative possibility happens simultaneously. All at once. In the same place. Quantum superposition.

Erwin Schrödinger . . .' 'He of the cat.