So what's the deal with Schrodinger's cat?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Elok
If that's the case, wouldn't it also need to be pitch-black across the EM spectrum in there to avoid the walls "observing" light emitted from the quasi-dead cat? And wouldn't you need some device to nullify the faint gravitational effect of the cat's mass on the box or something? I don't get it...but then, it is quantum mechanics.

Basically yes. In reality, the particles of the cat interfere with each other and force it into one of the two states.

[Krill]

Originally posted by Dauphin


There is a similar problem for n-body systems (where n is 3 or more) in Newtonian mechanics.

Wouldn't know or care about that stuff being a chemist (and an appalling physical chemist at that)

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by Krill
Quantium mechanics isn't perfect, it doesn't work for everything. (ie there is no solution for a many electron atom, you have to use the orbitals that hydrogen has).

Bull crap.

There are no CLOSED FORM solutions, to the Schrodinger equation applied to a many electrons atom, just like there are no CLOSED FORM solutions to the 3-body problem in classical mechanic.


Let me give you an example.
If I give you the equation sin x =x/2.
One solution is x=0.
If I ask what the next one (in terms of x) is, you will not be able to solve it exactly (in closed form), yet there are ways to prove that such solution exist (if you graph them for example, it's easy to see that sin x= x/2 intersect again) and you can numerically compute the solution to any accuracy.


Similarly, Schrodinger's equation for a multi-electron atom cannot be solved exactly, but can be computed to any accuracy desired (which is not surprising when you can think about it, only very simple equations can actually be solved exactly).



The fact that we can't SOLVE the equation in closed term doesn't mean that the equation has anything wrong with it.

In fact when you get a bit more advanced in any field that uses any math, you start to realize that most problems CANNOT be solved exactly (although that doesn't mean that there is nothing to be said about them, they are still worthy of study) and that problems you were taught how to solve in your education were chosen specifically because they could be solved exactly in the first place.
And if you don't know or care, why are you posting about it?

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by AAHZ

...but i am on very loose terms with him, and since i am a religious man i do not believe any of this nonsense anyways.

Does your religion prevent you from believing in gravity?
If so, can you fly?

[Japher]

Don't worry, I checked... the cat is dead, long live the cat!

My new wallpaper:

[ZEE]

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[Dinner]

It's a valid question.

[ZEE]

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[Theben]

Originally posted by VetLegion


post of the week

QFT. I may have to replace one of my sigs for that.

[Japher]

mine?

[ZEE]

.

[Theben]

Japher's quote has a subtle perfectness to it.
Ned's needs to be kept for posterity, lest we forget what true lunatic right-wing thought is.

Prolly Wiggy's. He says crazy **** all the time.

[Dinner]

I wish John Miller and Krazy Horse still posted here. It was nice have two resident doctoral physics students. Unfortunately, JM stopped drinking and now posts less on the internet while KH got into a fight with the mods and found his research and new wife took up most of his time.

[Theben]

Uh, JM is still around...

[CrONoS]

This is how we call Jon Miller:

"Christian are mentally handicapped people, who have based their religion from their very own phantasm, which can all be reduced to sexuality and rubble, rubble Darwinism rubble rubble rubble, religion rubble rubble rubble virus, rubble rubble Dawkins is God rubble rubble, other social Darwinism no sense"

I'm pretty sure he will come. Otherwise, he may be posting in the Other Games forum.