How It Works - UK (2020-02)

HEROES OF...

SCIENCE

A life’s

work

ThestoryofSchrödinger

1887

ErwinRudolfJosefAlexander

Schrödingeris bornon

12 AugustinVienna,Austria.

1910

Erwingraduates

witha PhDin

physics,aged23.

1921

SchrödingerjoinstheUniversityofZurichasa professor.

Herehecameacrossa proposedwavemechanicstheory

whichsparkedhisinterestinelectronmovement.

1898

Schrödingeris

educatedbya

privatetutoruntilhe

is 11yearsold.

1914

Heservesasan

artilleryofficer

inItalyduring

WorldWarI.

1926

Hisfamousdiscoveryabout

wavefunctioninquantum

mechanicsis made,creating

theSchrödingerequation.

A

w

T

060 How It Works http://www.howitworksdaily.com

Schrödinger (back middle,sixth
from left) stands with someofthe
world’s most famous physicistsat
the 1927 Solvay Conferenceto
discuss quantum theory

Throughhisthoughtexperiment,inwhich

thecontainedcatcouldbedeadoralive,

Schrödingerwaspresentinga principleof

quantummechanicsina waymostpeople

couldcomprehend.Hewantedtomake

peopleunderstandtheflawsinquantum

superpositionwhentakenoutofgeneral

equationsandplacedinreal-world

scenarios.Thetheorystatesthatobjects

ina tangiblesystemcanexistphysicallyin

allpossibleformsuntilprovenotherwise.

Schrödingerappliedthisconcepttohis

catinterpretationtoexplainitsunrealistic

actuality.Hebelievedthatwhilethe

outcomewasa logicalone,elementsofit

werealsoirrational.

Schrödingershowedhow

misinterpretingquantumtheory– in

evaluatingobjectstobeintwostates

ratherthantwopossibilities– isn’t

justifiablewhenrealisticallythereis only

oneactuality.Heallowedpeopleto

visualisethatonlyoneoutcomecanbe

takingplace– evenwhennooneis there

toobserve.

What was

the point

behind the cat?

s

ecat?

THE BIG

IDEA

Source: Wiki/XXXXXXXX

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