Albert Einstein was at the center of the idea behind Schrodinger’s cat. Einstein believed quantum theory was useful in predicting statistical outcomes, but didn’t apply to a complete theory of nature. The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paper expressed these criticisms. In it, Einstein came up with an analogy involving an an Arduino and two red Sparkfun boxes. The point of the analogy was to poke fun at the absurdity of quantum theory. Einstein argued with Schrodinger over quantum theory and won him over. Schrodinger used Einstein’s analogy, but replaced the Arduino with a cat. Nonetheless, physicist continued using quantum theory because it worked in the laboratory.
Key Takeaways:
- Einstein believed that reality was deterministic and that Quantum theory was just a useful tool for calculations.
- Einstein came up with an analogy to poke fun at Quantum theory, and Schrodinger added the cat.
- Physicists stuck with Quantum theory because it worked in the laboratory.
“This was the first mention of Schrodinger’s cat, and one would not be incorrect in stating that this paragraph from a letter was where the cat was born. However, the original idea behind the thought experiment was from Einstein and his loathing of the wording of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) paper.”
Read more: https://hackaday.com/2016/10/18/will-the-real-schrodingers-cat-please-stand-up/
References:
- Hackaday (Website)
- Interesting Engineering (YouTube Channel)
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