Best attempts so far to skin Schrödinger’s cat (2016)

>Schrödinger described how one could, in principle, create a superposition in a large-scale system by making it dependent on a quantum particle that was in a superposition. He proposed a scenario with a cat in a locked steel chamber, wherein the cat's life or death depended on the state of a radioactive atom, whether it had decayed and emitted radiation or not. According to Schrödinger, the Copenhagen interpretation implies that the cat remains both alive and dead until the state is observed. Schrödinger did not wish to promote the idea of dead-and-alive cats as a serious possibility; on the contrary, he intended the example to illustrate the absurdity of the existing view of quantum mechanics. However, since Schrödinger's time, other interpretations of the mathematics of quantum mechanics have been advanced by physicists, some of which regard the "alive and dead" cat superposition as quite real.

I was taught that Schrödinger's Cat was conceived of as intentionally absurd, but that physicists loved it because it pointed out how absurd physics was being. As the other comment said, its not just that a photon might have gone through either slit, it provably went through both.

The thing about quantum theory is that it's not just about propabilities. The double-slit experiment, for example, cannot be explained by adding propabilities alone. Instead the wave function gets added, with the phase considered. This is why an unobserved quantum state is more than a classical state hidden in a box and why we get results that seem paradox.

>Schrodinger's cat is not both alive and dead. We know nothing about its current state, only how probable certain outcomes are

That's the case with any cat we throw in a box and ask somebody to kill it or not based on a dice, and then we visit the place where the box is and open it...

In other words, the cat is in a certain state, but we merely don't know which.

But this doesn't capture what the Schrodinger experiment is supposed to show. Such an case wouldn't need the experimental apparatus Schrodinger describes either.

The core idea of the experiment is that quantum uncertainty is not just of the "we just don't know yet" kind, but of the fundamental "reality is inherently mixed-up and uncertain / many things actually hold at the same time until observed" nature.

The purpose of the Schrodinger's thought experiment then is to show how this fundamental quantum uncertainty (i.e. not mere not knowing: actual "fuzzy" reality) "pollutes" the macro world (in this case, a cat).

The quantum-based mechanism that releases the poison, is his trick to transfer the uncertainty of the quantum state into the macro world (the box with the cat). (Funnily, Schrodinger's purpose was to discredit this).

Those that believe it's clear that "the cat is in one state or another, we just don't know which", haven't understood the problem.

Which is not that different that "reality as information", which is quite probable.

Besides, the actual objective reality/universe could just be a set of hazy possibilities in constant flux.

And it's only what WE call "reality" (and consider it as "objective") that appears fixed -- because of how our perception/brain perceives it.

Or an ever-permuting mush of probabilities that only becomes "evaluated" when thought experiences it. There's no way to know, but I personally like that interpretation because it meshes well with the idea that our reality is a simulation. No need to waste computation when it's not necessary.