The article describes what the Schrödinger theory is. The contribution of this great scientist to modern science is shown, and the thought experiment he invented about a cat is described. Briefly outlines the scope of this kind of knowledge.
Erwin Schrödinger
The notorious cat, who is neither alive nor dead, is now involved everywhere. Films are made about him, in his honor they call communities about physics and animals, there is even such a brand of clothes. But most often people mean the paradox with an unfortunate cat. But about its creator, Erwin Schrödinger, as a rule, they forget. He was born in Vienna, which was then part of Austria-Hungary. He was the offspring of a very educated and wealthy family. His father, Rudolph, produced linoleum and invested in science, among other things. His mother was the daughter of a chemist, and Erwin often went to listen to his grandfather's lectures at the academy.
Since one of the scientist's grandmothers was English, from childhood he was interested in foreign languages and mastered English perfectly. It is not surprising that at school Schrödinger was the best in the class every year, and at the university he asked complex questions. In the science of the early twentieth century, discrepancies between more understandable classical physics and the behavior of particles of the micro- and nanoworld have already been identified. Erwin Schrodinger threw all his strength to resolve the arising contradictions .
Contribution to Science
To begin with, it is worth saying that this physicist was engaged in many fields of science. However, when we pronounce the "Schrödinger theory", we do not mean a mathematically harmonious description of color that he created, but a contribution to quantum mechanics. In those days, technology, experiment and theory went hand in hand. Photography developed, the first spectra were recorded, the phenomenon of radioactivity was discovered. Scientists who received the results interacted closely with theorists: they agreed, complemented each other, argued. New schools and branches of science were created. The world began to play in completely different colors, and mankind has received new puzzles. Despite the complexity of the mathematical apparatus, it is possible to describe what the Schrödinger theory is in simple language.
The quantum world is easy!
It is now well known that the scale of the studied objects directly affects the results. Objects visible to the eye obey the concepts of classical physics. Schrödinger theory is applicable to bodies with sizes of one hundred to one hundred nanometers or less. And most often it is all about individual atoms and smaller particles. So, each element of microsystems simultaneously possesses the properties of both a particle and a wave (wave-particle duality). From the material world, electrons, protons, neutrons, etc., have inherent mass and the associated inertia, speed, and acceleration. From a theoretical wave - such parameters as frequency and resonance. In order to understand how this is possible at the same time, and why they are inseparable from each other, scientists needed to reconsider the whole idea of the structure of substances.
Schrödinger theory implies that mathematically these two properties are connected through a construct called a wave function. Finding a mathematical description of this concept brought Schrödinger the Nobel Prize. However, the physical meaning attributed to him by the author did not coincide with the ideas of Bohr, Sommerfeld, Heisenberg and Einstein, who founded the so-called Copenhagen interpretation. From here the "cat paradox" arose.
Wave function
When it comes to the microworld of elementary particles, the concepts inherent in macroscales lose their meaning: mass, volume, speed, size. And unsteady probabilities come into their own. Objects of such sizes are impossible for a person to fix - only indirect methods of study are available to people. For example, streaks of light on a sensitive screen or on a film, the number of clicks, the thickness of the sprayed film. Everything else is the area of calculation.
Schrödinger's theory is based on the equations that this scientist deduced. And their integral component is the wave function. It unambiguously describes the type and quantum properties of the particle under study. It is believed that the wave function shows the state, for example, of an electron. However, she herself, contrary to the ideas of her author, has no physical meaning. It is just a convenient math tool. Since in our article the Schrödinger theory is stated in simple words, we say that the square of the wave function describes the probability of finding a system in a predetermined state.
Cat as an example of a macro object
With this interpretation, which is called Copenhagen, the author himself did not agree until the end of his life. The fuzziness of the concept of probability disgusted him, and he insisted on the visualization of the function itself, and not its square.
As an example of the insolvency of such ideas, he argued that in this case the microworld would affect macro objects. Schrödinger 's cat theory says the following: if you put a living organism (for example, a cat) and a capsule with poisonous gas in an airtight box, which opens if a radioactive element decays and remains closed if decay does not occur, we get a paradox before opening the box. According to quantum ideas, an atom of a radioactive element with some probability decays in a certain period of time. Thus, before experimental detection, the atom is both intact and not. And, as Schrödinger’s theory says, the cat is at the same time likely dead, but otherwise alive. Which, you see, is absurd, for, having opened the box, we will find only one state of the animal. And in a closed container, next to a deadly capsule, the cat is either dead or alive, as these indicators are discrete and do not suggest intermediate options.
There is a concrete, but not yet fully proven explanation for this phenomenon: in the absence of time-limiting conditions for determining the specific state of a hypothetical cat, this experiment is undoubtedly paradoxical. However, quantum-mechanical rules cannot be used for macro-objects. It has not yet been possible to precisely draw the line between the microworld and the ordinary one. Nevertheless, an animal the size of a cat is without a doubt a macro object.
The application of quantum mechanics
As for any, even theoretical, phenomenon, the question arises of how the Schrödinger cat can be useful. The Big Bang Theory, for example, is based specifically on processes that relate to this thought experiment. Everything that relates to ultrahigh speeds, the ultra-small structure of matter, the study of the universe as such, is also explained by quantum mechanics.