English

Noun

Schrödinger's cat ‎(plural Schrödinger's cats)

1. A hypothetical cat that is depicted as being surrounded by perfectly uncertain circumstances that make an external observer absolutely unable to deem the cat either alive or dead, especially if the possibilities of survival of the cat are expected to be analysed from the point of view of quantum mechanics. Typically, these circumstances involve the cat being inside a box while being the victim of a danger that may or may not kill it, such as radiation.
   • 2000, Thalia Field, Point and line, New Directions Publishing, ISBN 9780811214421, page 8:

     A cat like yours is a Schrödinger's cat, sealed up in an office where someone's disintegration provides a 50-50 chance of its death.

2. (by extension) Any hypothetical situation whose circumstances make it impossible to see which among two contrary propositions is correct, especially if the situation is expected to be analysed from the point of view of quantum mechanics.
   • 2004, Colin Bruce, Schrödinger's Rabbits: The Many Worlds of Quantum‎, page 83

     To see how, let us consider a nested system of Schrödinger's cats.

Related terms

• Schrödinger's kitten

Proper noun

Schrödinger's cat

1. The thought experiment which was devised by Erwin Schrödinger, is usually considered a paradox, involves a Schrödinger's cat and is typically supposed to be analysed from the point of view of quantum mechanics.
2. A Schrödinger's cat (a hypothetical cat that may or may not be dead) in particular, especially when implied to be the only Schrödinger's cat in the world.
   • 2005, Jürgen Pafel, Quantifier scope in German, illustrated edition, John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 9789027228086, page 21:

     ' Schrödinger's cat is necessarily alive or dead.'

   • 2009, João Magueijo, A brilliant darkness: the extraordinary life and disappearance of Ettore Majorana, the troubled genius of the nuclear age, Basic Books, ISBN 9780465009039, page 179:

     And you thought Schrödinger's cat was schizophrenic, unsure about life and death.

   • 2010, Rodrigo Enrico, The Physics of Stargates: Parallel Universes, Time Travel and the Enigma of Wormhole Physics, Eridanus Press, ISBN 9780984150007, page 80:

     Let us return to the laboratory, where Bob is about to lift the tarp off of the transparent box containing Schrödinger's cat.

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