How It Works - UK (2020-02)

W

henyouthinkaboutAustrian

physicistEr winSchrödinger,your

mindmayfirstturntohisfamous

thoughtexperimentsurroundinga poisonedcat

ina box.However,aspartofhiscontributionsto

quantummechanics,heisoftenmostcelebrated

fordev isingthe‘Schrödingerequation’.

Duringthe1920s,thefieldofquantum

mechanicsemerged,alongwitha raceinvolv ing

allthetopscientiststofindwaystodescribe

andexplainthemotionofsomeofthesmallest

buildingblocksoftheuniverse.Schrödinger’s

scientificcapabilitieshadevolvedthrough

studyingandworkingatmultipletop

universitiesalongsidethelikesofA lbert

Einstein.Itwaswhilehewasworkingasa

professorattheUniversityofZurichthathe

delveddeepintotheresearchoftheoretical

physics,allowinghimtopiecetogethersomeof

themostimportantmodelsofhiscareer.

Thefirstofhismajorbreakthroughscame

whenhebeganstudy ingthedifferentenerg y

statesofelectronsinanatom.Usinga prev ious

hypothesisthatparticlesinanatommovein

waves– similartothemovementoflightwaves

• Schrödingerwasthefirstpersontoorganise
  dataintoanequationtoprovehowthis
  happened.Theequationisoftencomparedto
  New ton’slawofmotioninitslevelofimportance
  toquantummechanics.
  Usedacrossphysicsandchemistr y,
  Schrödinger’sequationisusedtodealwithany
  issuesregardingatomicstructure,suchaswhere
  inanatomelectronwavesarefound.
  Additionally,hiswaveequationdemonstrated
  superposition:a statethatincludesallpossible
  solutions.Becausehisequationwaslinearand
  hadmorethantwochangeablefactors,it created
  a rangeofpossibleoutcomes.

Revolutionising the wayquantum

mechanics was v isualised,Schrödinger

focused again on superpositioninhismost

renowned thought experiment.Forthis,he

asked people to imaginea catinsidea sealed

container. Trapped alongsidethecatisa Geiger

counter, poison, a hammeranda radioactive

substance. In this situation,duetothe

random process in whichtheradioactive

substance will decay, thereisnowayof

knowing when this willhappen.Whenit

does, the activity will bedetectedbythe

Geigercounter,whichwilltriggerthehammer

toreleasethepoisonandeventuallyleadtothe

deathofthecat.

Asthisprocesscannotbeseen,thecatcan’t

bedefinitivelypronounceddeadoralive.Forthis

reason,Schrödingerexplainedthatit mustbe

assumedthatthecatisint wostates– liv ingand

deceased– untiltheboxisopenedandits

contentsrevealed.

Lateroninhislife,Schrödingerwentonto

publishacademicbooksandjournals.Inoneof

hismostwell-known,calledWhatisLife?, he

usedhisexpertiseinquantumphysicstodelve

intotheworldofbiolog yandexplorehowhis

Erwin

Schrödinger

Introducing the influential physicist whose catcontrove

made waves across the science community

1927

Schrödingermovesto

Berlinfora newpositionat

theUniversityofBerlin.

1937

SchrödingerwinstheMaxPlanck

medal;thehighestawardofthe

GermanPhysicalSociety.

1955

WhileworkingasdirectoroftheSchoolfor

TheoreticalPhysics,Schrödingerproducedmany

researchpapersandbooks,includingWhatis Life?.

1933

Schrödingerwinsthe

Nobelprizeforhiswork

inquantumtheory.

1950s

Hestudiestheoreticalphysicsin

Dublin,Ireland,afterbeinginvitedby

IrishPrimeMinisterÉamondeValera.

1961

Backinhishometown,Erwin

Schrödingerdiesoftuberculosis

on4 JanuaryinVienna,aged73.

http://www.howitworksdaily.com HowIt Works 061

FIVE LEGENDS ABOUT...

ERWIN SCHRÖDINGER

1

Sanatorium

study

His thesis for the

Schrödinger equation

was written while

in a sanatorium,

being treated for

tuberculosis. Giving

him grief for much of

his life, it also provided

extensive study time.

3

Inspiring

others

Schrödingerinspired

WatsonandCrick,

creditedfortheir

discoveryofthe

structureofDNA.

Theybothnamedhis

book,Whatis Life?,in

creatingtheirinterest

in cellularbiology.

2

Friendly

rivalry

Einsteinwasunableto

accepttheuseof

randomactstodefine

science,suchasin the

Schrödinger’scat

experiment,andis

famouslyquoted

saying:“I can’tbelieve

Godplaysdice.”

4

Manon

theMoon

A Mooncraterwas

namedafterhim.

Foundonthefarside

oftheMoonnear

thelunarsouthpole,

theSchrödinger

crateris thebest-

preservedimpact

basinofitskind.

5

Working

through

thegreatwar

Whileservingasan

artilleryofficerwiththe

Austro-Hungarian

forcesin WorldWarI,

Schrödingerstillfound

thetimetostudy

paperswrittenby

AlbertEinstein.

g p y g

structure.Whilelaterdevelopmentsand

researchinthisareahaveledtoadaptationsof

hisfindings,hisworkstillholdsgreatusein

introducingstudentstoquantummechanics.

AcrosstheboardofSchrödinger’s

experiments,thoughtprocessesandscientific

w riting,heisoneofthehighestregarded

physicistsofhistime.Acknowledgedduringhis

lifethroughprestigiousawardsandgeneral

sciencedevelopment,hisstudiescontinueto

influencetheworldsofbothscienceand

philosophytothisday.

ersy

findings couldexplainthestabilityofgenetic

“Schrödinger

went on

to publish

academic

journals”

The cat in the box

is both alive and

dead until the box

is opened