Friday 25 July 2014

FFHT - A Quantum of Mystery

Today we are taking part in Fractured Fryday Hairy Tails, courtesy of those wonderful Blogville citizens, Murphy and Stanley.



A story about Schrödinger's Cat, as imagined by Bertie…

Once upon a time there was a very famous quantum physicist called Erwin Schrödinger, who formulated the Wave Equation, the details of which need not concern us here. It is well known that Professor Schrödinger corresponded at length with his contemporary, the great Albert Einstein, however, one of these letters was long lost. Thrillingly, a fragment of the missing letter was recently rediscovered. The translated text is exclusively revealed below:

"My dear Albert, as you are aware, I spend much of my time thinking about the problems posed by quantum physics and the possible implications for the health of my cat. Do you, a theoretician like me, ever tire of the endless speculation and hypothesising and feel the urge to conduct a real physical experiment? I do, and it just so happened that the other night I succumbed to this urge and placed my beloved cat Niels into a box alongside a radioactive source and a flask of deadly poison. I then sealed the box. As you are aware, the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Physics implies that after a while the cat will be simultaneously dead and alive.  So when I opened the box I was startled to find..."

Oh dear, and that is all we have.


20 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness Bertie, the things physicists do! Just pretend your ending is a cliff hanger, but I'm not sure I'd like to hear what happened to the poor cat. It's quite amazing though, if it could be dead and alive. Maybe the cat was secretly Voldemort. (Silly suggestion Pippa.)
    Pippa :)

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  2. Crikey Bertie .... C'mon, mate! What happened? You can't do that to us. We gotta know!

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  3. Wow now that is a cliff hanger!

    retro rover

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  4. we are thinking the cat mutated into some weird giant creature that promptly chomped off Schrödinger's head the moment he opened the box :) :)

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  5. Yep crikey Bertie you have us on the edge of our basket. Have a fabulous Friday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  6. Bravo! Bravo! Well done with the suspenseful ending! Thanks for pawticipating!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  7. Oh Bertie, what a cliffhanger.....

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  8. When are you coming out with Part 2? We just gotta find out what happens.....

    Hugs,
    Lily Belle & Muffin

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  9. OMD OMD this is SCARY... did the cat MUTATE into a SQUIRREL????

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  10. MOL MOL MOL I HOPE THEIR CALCULATIONS INCLUDED THE FACT THAT A CAT HAS 9 LIVES AND IT WILL SEEK REVENGE!! hUGS MADI YOUR BFFF

    MOM HERE: OH THIS WAS SO FUNNY AND KIND OF SCARY ALL THAT PHYSICS VOCABULARY IS SO FAMILIAR...ONE OF MY BOSSES WAS BIG IN TO QUANTUM PHYSICS
    HUGS CECILIA

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  11. Hari OM
    OMDness Bertie - for one fine minute there, lad, I thought you had discovered the impossible answer!!! Nicely done. Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx

    Pee ess...mine is in a different spot

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  12. Maybe the cat was duplicated and in turn put him in a box!

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  13. that sounds like a CATastrophe for Mr. Schroedinger... good one Bertie!

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  14. High Paws Bertie! I love a good suspense. So what happens next? I'm on da edge of da couch and don't wanta fall off.
    WAgs,
    Ranger

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  15. What ??? we get left hanging ???
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Greta

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  16. Bertie, have you considered that might be the explanation for the rash of giant mutated cat attacks across the world???

    Loveys Sasha

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  17. Well, we three OBSERVED some guy named Heisenberg looking in the box and of course that completely discombobulated everything.

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  18. Hmmmmmmm! Half n half cat....maybe we could catch that one! (And it would probably glow...good for night catching.)

    After hearing an interview with the designer of the Scots Games uniform...and seeing it at a distance, it's not so bad....

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  19. From Stella's Zkhat: I would strongly suggest to any physicist when they feel an experiment coming on that they find a dog, a turtle or a soccer player to do it on! Cats never forget an unkindness and always seek revenge

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  20. Can a groundhog be both alive and dead at the same time? We want to know if that works for them too!

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