Cats

[magid]

In the classic Gedankenexperiment, Schrodinger's cat remains both alive and dead until the box is opened, when the probabilities collapse into one state or the other.

But if Schrodinger's cat were also a Cheshire cat, it seems that opening the box after an hour would multiply the probabilities, rather than collapse them, since the cat may or may not have been corporeal during the hour, and may or may not be corporeal when the box is opened. I suppose it also depends on whether the cat can be killed when noncorporeal, and whether death necessarily forces corporeality.


Those interested in Schrodinger's cat will appreciate the short story by Ursula K. LeGuin on the topic, one of the stories collected in The Compass Rose.

Comments

[rhysara.livejournal.com]

May I point out that the cat has to be dead for one very simple reason. Schrodinger forgot to include catfood in the box. That cat starved to death years ago.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Perhaps he merely neglected to mention the cat food, in the midst of all the more highfalutin' stuff.