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Schrödinger's cat is now fat

Nature volume 406, pages 25–26 (2000)Cite this article

Schrödinger's dead-and-alive cat was a thought experiment applying the physics of electrons and atoms to our macroscopic world. New experiments with superconductors narrow the gap between theoretical ideas and reality.

Physics at the atomic scale is determined by the rules of quantum mechanics, which tell us that particles propagate like waves, and so can be described by a quantum-mechanical wavefunction. As an immediate consequence, a particle can be in two or more states at the same time — a so-called superposition of states. This curious behaviour has been hugely successful in describing physical systems at the microscopic level. For example, under the rules of quantum mechanics two atoms sharing an electron form a chemical bond, whereas in classical theory the electron remains confined to one atom and the bond can't form.

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Figure 1: The state of Schrödinger's cat.

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  1. Institut für Theoretische Physik, ETH-Hönggerberg, Zürich, CH-8093, Switzerland

    Gianni Blatter

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  1. Gianni Blatter
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Correspondence to Gianni Blatter.

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Blatter, G. Schrödinger's cat is now fat. Nature 406, 25–26 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35017670

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35017670

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