Chance & Measurement
Schrödinger’s Cat
What’s going on
In 1935 Erwin Schrödinger imagined a cat sealed in a box with a device triggered by a single atom that may or may not decay. Taken literally, quantum rules seemed to say the cat would be in a blend of “alive” and “not alive” until someone opened the box. He meant it as a puzzle. Today, decoherence helps explain why we never see big things in such blends. No real cat was involved.
Myth
Schrödinger believed cats could really be alive and not alive at once.
Fact
He invented the example to show something seemed wrong.
Learn more
E. Schrödinger, Die Naturwissenschaften 23, 807 (1935).
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