Hello, today I will try to explain the Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment, which is used to explain what can happen when quantum mechanics, which is quite famous, is applied to large systems.
Schrödinger'in Kedisi
The Schrödinger's Cat experiment was proposed by physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. The main purpose of this experiment is to observe that applying an event that can occur in subatomic particles, such as superposition, to large systems can yield very interesting results.
To understand this experiment, I must first talk to you about the principle called superposition. To explain superposition in the simplest way, we can use what we call a qubit, a type of bit used in quantum computers. As we know, in normal computers, bits can be either 1 or 0. Qubits, however, can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. If there is a 50% chance of a qubit being 0, then there is a 50% chance of it being 1. This way, a qubit can take 2 values. But if we try to measure this qubit, it will give us either a 0 or a 1 value. Each time we measure, we have a 50% chance of getting 0 or 1. But we can never know whether the qubit is 0 or 1 without measuring it. This situation is called superposition.
The Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment can be explained with different examples, but today I will explain it in the most basic way. In the experiment, a cat is placed inside a box, and the box is closed. Inside this box, there is a radioactive source with a 50% chance of decaying and a monitor that checks whether the radioactive source has decayed or not. If the radioactive source decays, the monitor detects it and releases a poison into the box that will kill the cat. We can never know whether the cat is dead or alive without opening the box. When we open the box, we observe the cat as either dead or alive. So, in fact, by looking at it, this experiment puts a cat in a superposition state as well. Therefore, until we open the box, we accept that Schrödinger's cat is both dead and alive.