Schrödinger's theory: description, features, experiments and application

The article describes what Schrödinger's theory is. The contribution of this great scientist to modern science is shown, and also the thought experiment about the cat invented by him is described. Briefly outlines the scope of this kind of knowledge.

Erwin Schrödinger

The notorious cat, who is neither dead nor alive, is now being used everywhere. About him films are made, in his honor are called communities about physics and animals, there is even such a brand of clothing. But most often people mean a paradox with an unhappy cat. But about his creator, Erwin Schrödinger, as a rule, forget. He was born in Vienna, which was then part of Austria-Hungary. He was the offspring of a highly educated and well-off family. His father, Rudolph, produced linoleum and invested money, including in science. His mother was the daughter of a chemist, and Erwin often went to listen to the academy lectures of his grandfather.

Since one of the grandmothers of the scientist was an Englishwoman, from childhood he was interested in foreign languages and mastered English perfectly. Not surprisingly, Schrödinger was the best in the class every year, and at university he asked difficult questions. In the science of the beginning of the twentieth century, inconsistencies between the more understandable classical physics and the behavior of micro- and nanoworld particles were already revealed. Erwin Schrödinger gave up all the forces to resolve the contradictions .

Contribution to science

First of all, it should be said that this physicist was engaged in many fields of science. However, when we say "Schrodinger theory", we mean not the mathematically structured description of color created by him, but a contribution to quantum mechanics. In those days, technology, experiment and theory went hand in hand. The photo developed, the first spectra were recorded, the phenomenon of radioactivity was discovered. The scientists who received the results closely interacted with the theorists: they agreed, supplemented each other, argued. New schools and branches of science were created. The world played in very different colors, and humanity received new riddles. Despite the complexity of the mathematical apparatus, it is possible to describe what Schrödinger theory is in plain language.

Quantum world - it's easy!

Now it is well known that the scale of the objects under investigation directly affects the results. The objects visible to the eye obey the notions of classical physics. The Schrödinger theory is applicable to bodies with dimensions of one hundred and one hundred nanometers and less. And most often we are talking about individual atoms and smaller particles. Thus, each element of the microsystem possesses simultaneously the properties of both particles and waves (corpuscular-wave dualism). From the material world to electrons, protons, neutrons, etc., there is a mass and associated inertia, speed, acceleration. From the theoretical wave - such parameters as frequency and resonance. In order to understand how this is possible at the same time, and why they are inseparable from each other, scientists needed to reconsider in general the whole concept of the structure of substances.

Schrödinger's theory implies that mathematically these two properties are connected through a certain construct, called the wave function. Finding a mathematical description of this concept brought Schroedinger a Nobel Prize. However, the physical meaning attributed to him by the author did not coincide with the representations of Bohr, Sommerfeld, Heisenberg and Einstein, who founded the so-called Copenhagen interpretation. Hence the "cat paradox" arose.

Wave function

When it comes to the microworld of elementary particles, the concepts inherent in macroscales lose weight: mass, volume, speed, size. And there come in their rights unsteady probabilities. Objects of this size can not be fixed to a person - only mediated ways of studying are accessible to people. For example, strips of light on a sensitive screen or on a film, the number of clicks, the thickness of the film being sprayed. All the rest is the area of calculations.

The Schrödinger theory is based on the equations that this scientist derived. And their integral component is the wave function. It uniquely describes the type and quantum properties of the particle under investigation. It is believed that the wave function shows the state, for example, of an electron. However, she herself, contrary to the ideas of her author, has no physical meaning. It's just a handy mathematical tool. Since in this paper we present the Schrödinger theory in simple words, let us say that the square of the wave function describes the probability of finding a system in a predetermined state.

Cat as an example of a macroobject

With this interpretation, which is called Copenhagen, the author himself did not agree until the end of his life. He was puzzled by the blurring of the concept of probability, and he insisted on the visibility of the function itself, not its square.

As an example of the inconsistency of such representations, he argued that in this case the microcosm would influence macro objects. The theory of the Schrodinger cat says: if a living organism (for example, a cat) is placed in a sealed box and a capsule with a poisonous gas opens, if a certain radioactive element disintegrates and remains closed, if the decay does not occur, then a paradox is obtained before the box is opened. According to quantum concepts, the atom of a radioactive element with a certain probability for a certain period of time will disintegrate. Thus, before the experimental detection, the atom is simultaneously both intact and not. And, according to Schroedinger's theory, for the same share of probability the cat is simultaneously dead, but otherwise alive. That, you will agree, is absurd, for having opened the box, we will find only one state of the animal. And in a closed container, next to a lethal capsule, the cat is either dead or alive, as these figures are discrete and do not suggest intermediate options.

This phenomenon has a concrete, but not yet fully proved explanation: in the absence of time-limiting conditions for determining the specific state of a hypothetical cat, this experiment is undoubtedly paradoxical. However, quantum-mechanical rules can not be used for macro-objects. Precisely draw a line between the microcosm and the ordinary has not yet happened. Nevertheless, an animal the size of a cat, without a doubt, is a macro object.

The application of quantum mechanics

As for any, even theoretical, phenomenon, the question arises as to what the Schrodinger cat can be useful. The big bang theory, for example, is based precisely on the processes that relate to this thought experiment. Everything that relates to ultra-high speeds, the super-small structure of matter, the study of the universe as such, is explained, among other things, by quantum mechanics.