Schrödinger's Cat Plays Starring Role in Google Doodle

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By Lance Ulanoff2013-08-12 12:34:03 UTC

Our fascination with cats did not begin with the Internet. Way back in the early part of the last century cats, or at least a theoretical cat, played a role in a landmark quantum mechanics theory posited by physicist Erwin Schrödinger. The Vienna-born, Nobel Prize-winning scientist's birthday is celebrated in today's Google Doodle, which features cats (both dead and alive) and some equations.

Though the blend of scientific notation and felines may be confusing, it's in perfect step with Schrödinger's most famous work: Schrödinger's Cat. This quantum mechanics theory posits that a cat in a box with unstable dynamite (or some other volatile element with a 50/50-chance of causing death) is, until we open the box, both dead and alive. So it has two existences until our witnessing of the reality fuses them together into one actuality.

See also: 14 Google Tools You Didn't Know Existed

According to Wikipedia, "Schrödinger's famous thought experiment poses the question, when does a quantum system stop existing as a superposition of states and become one or the other?" In other words, when does the cat actually become dead or alive? As Schrödinger saw it, this happened when we opened the box. At least that’s our physics-limited, grade-school interpretation of this actually very complex and important theoretical work by Schrödinger.

While this thought experiment has had a huge impact on the field of quantum mechanics, Schrödinger actually won a Nobel Prize in 1933 for his Schrödinger Equation. Wikipedia described it as "a partial differential equation that describes how the quantum state of some physical system changes with time."

The Google Doodle is interesting and playful enough that it may inspire you, as it has done us, to dig deeper into Schrödinger's work and quantum physics in general. And if Schrödinger's Cat still has you stumped, watch this brief, yet highly informative video below. Pay attention, because there will be a quiz.

[Image: Google]

Topics: Apps and Software, google doodle, US & World, World