Re:Physicists found a new quantum paradox that casts doubt o...
by jfengel on Monday August 31, 2020 @10:07AM
(#24331571)
It's "possible", but not really possible. The larger the object is, the harder it is to maintain superposition. Even the slightest nudge will tend to push it all into one state or other. Seeing the superposition directly would be like standing twenty octillion strands of spaghetti on end.
So it's "possible" but would never happen in a trillion lifetimes of the universe. You can tell the difference between that and "impossible" by watching the quantum mechanics work for a few isolated particles, and observing what it means for them to fall out of superposition equilibrium. But in practical terms, it's equivalent to impossible.
So it's "possible" but would never happen in a trillion lifetimes of the universe. You can tell the difference between that and "impossible" by watching the quantum mechanics work for a few isolated particles, and observing what it means for them to fall out of superposition equilibrium. But in practical terms, it's equivalent to impossible.