Posted on 12/28/2005 1:42:38 PM PST by snarks_when_bored
Einstein said there would be days like this.
This fall scientists announced that they had put a half dozen beryllium atoms into a "cat state."
No, they were not sprawled along a sunny windowsill. To a physicist, a "cat state" is the condition of being two diametrically opposed conditions at once, like black and white, up and down, or dead and alive.
These atoms were each spinning clockwise and counterclockwise at the same time. Moreover, like miniature Rockettes they were all doing whatever it was they were doing together, in perfect synchrony. Should one of them realize, like the cartoon character who runs off a cliff and doesn't fall until he looks down, that it is in a metaphysically untenable situation and decide to spin only one way, the rest would instantly fall in line, whether they were across a test tube or across the galaxy.
The idea that measuring the properties of one particle could instantaneously change the properties of another one (or a whole bunch) far away is strange to say the least - almost as strange as the notion of particles spinning in two directions at once. The team that pulled off the beryllium feat, led by Dietrich Leibfried at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in Boulder, Colo., hailed it as another step toward computers that would use quantum magic to perform calculations.
But ...
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ping
Perfect communication device...........
Dead and alive is my cat's state.
And "faster" than the speed of light........
Or cars that fly!
No information transfer channel appears to be involved...unfortunately.
Spooky action at a distance.
Another big WOW!
I love quantum mechanics – but then again, I never did believe in a classical “reality”.
What did they have against kitty cats?
Wow... That made my head hurt.
So has anyone confirmed yet that the cat is both dead and alive? I wonder what it would be like.
Well, I'm not a physicist, but from what I've read about these experiments, I'm not particularly convinced. It seems like they are basing their conclusions on assumptions that certain aspects of the quantum theory are correct. Sure, if you assume that the equations of quantum mechanics are correct, then you are going to get experimental results that seem consistent with them.
It doesn't really prove anything that these guys are able to poke holes in Einstein's conjectures. Einstein did not have all of the pieces of the puzzle, either. What is embarrassing, though, is that the groupthink the experimental physicists are engaged in does not seem to allow room for them to devise experiments that might test their own theories. They are only concerned about testing Einstein's.
btt
Quantum Kerry? For and Against! Brilliant yet Stupid!
"And "faster" than the speed of light........"
It's exciting to think that someday our ancestors will indeed colonize the stars. It's a shame medical technology is behind Quantum physics technology so we could live longer and actually see it.
It's all Schrödinger's fault...
Sooooo, if a cat dies in a box and there's no one to see it,
it's still alive? Only liberals would go for something like
that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.