Schrodinger's Wife pregnant or not?

  • Thread starter pelastration
  • Start date
In summary, the conversation discusses various thought experiments related to Schrodinger's Wife, including the idea of her being in a half-pregnant superposition and the concept of entanglement versus mixture. The theory of decoherence is also mentioned, which suggests that all objects quickly decohere due to interactions with the environment. The conversation also delves into the idea that it is impossible to completely avoid interactions and that the perception of reality may be influenced by this.
  • #1
pelastration
165
0
Schrodinger's Wife.

Let's imagine Schrodinger's wife (Monica L.) is for 24 hours in a closed medical room with the Dr. Who's AAIM (automatic artifical insimination machine). We don't know if the machine will do it's work because there is a random time-system inside that will warm-up Erwin's frozen sperm. We don't know the outcome: Is Monica pregnant or not ...? When we open the door Dr. Who can do the tests.

Can we say that during the time we were waiting outside that Schrodinger's wife was in a half-pregnant superposition?

So what's your idea?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
What's different here from the cat? "Wigner's friend" at least had a consciousness inside the box to reduce (or not?) the wavefunction. But Mrs. Schroedinger herself doesn't know whether she's impregnated or not, so as an observer she's no better than the (presumably not sufficiently conscious) cat.
 
  • #3
Originally posted by selfAdjoint
What's different here from the cat? "Wigner's friend" at least had a consciousness inside the box to reduce (or not?) the wavefunction. But Mrs. Schroedinger herself doesn't know whether she's impregnated or not, so as an observer she's no better than the (presumably not sufficiently conscious) cat.
There are many elements different. Death vs giving life is one.
But what about her hormons? They know already IFF she's pregnant. She doesn't know consciously but her body knows? I think so ... a lot of hormonal activities have changed.
A more complex point is that IFF she pregnant there is a new observer: Erwin junior.
 
  • #4
Condom Mechanics

Perhaps the technology already exists to demonstrate quantum phenomena involving individual sperm cells? Suppose one isolates a single cell, and allows it to traverse, Millikan-style, a region where it can possibly interact with a weak beam of energetic particles. If the particle is energetic enough to kill the cell, then you can have a sperm cell that is in a superpostion of "dead" and "live" states...

If the particle is scattered in the collision, will it be in an entangled state with the cell, so that a measurement on the particle will "kill" or "spare" the cell?
 
Last edited:
  • #5
Let's say my wife was in a closed room with "Bill" And, Bill has intermittent problems with ejaculation.
A doctor is waiting outside, to test my wife for pregnancy afterwards.
Since pregnancy during activity is indeterminate given the lack of observation, is my wife in some pseudo-state of pregnancy becuase the doctor has not yet examined her?
Absurd.
The doctor merely CONFIRMS OR DENIES an AFTER THE FACT EVENT.
 
  • #6
entanglement versus mixture.

You guys confuse an entangled quantum state with a statistical mixture.
An entangled quantum state is a NEW physical state. A statistical mixture is a description of ignorance. Einstein thought that both were equivalent but Bell showed that this is not the case (Bell's inequalities). Aspect-like experiments then confirmed this.

In fact, the theory of decoherence shows that due to inevitable interactions with the environment, IF WE LIMIT OURSELVES TO THE OBSERVED SYSTEM, then a pure, entangled state quickly evolves into a mixture (and the entanglement is with the rest of the universe instead of just between the system states), except if we can avoid interaction.
This then resolves the Schroedinger cat problem: although initially the cat may be in an entangled state, for, say, 10^(-50) seconds, this will extremely rapidly evolve into a local mixture, and the entanglement will be in the air molecules, the infrared photons, Earth's gravity etc... and hence ununentangible for all practical purposes. The reason is that a macroscopic body such as a cat has unavoidable interactions with the environment. Pairs of photons can be protected for a while from doing so, but not a cat, or your wife.
 
  • #7
a macroscopic body such as a cat has unavoidable interactions with the environment. Pairs of photons can be protected for a while from doing so, but not a cat, or your wife.

How about a single cell? A single chromosome? A nanomachine?
 
  • #8
mesoscopic things...

It is amazing how quickly we decohere, even for mezoscopic objects. Have a look at some estimates at:

quant-ph/9908008

cheers,
Patrick.
 
  • #9
Originally posted by vanesch
In fact, the theory of decoherence shows that due to inevitable interactions with the environment, IF WE LIMIT OURSELVES TO THE OBSERVED SYSTEM, then a pure, entangled state quickly evolves into a mixture (and the entanglement is with the rest of the universe instead of just between the system states), except if we can avoid interaction.
It is never possible to avoid interactions.

Everything is always gravitationally connected.
The perception of reality may be twisted if - like in many mathematical constructs - gravity is just canceled or replaced by another value. (eg. Path integrals in non-gravitational theories). That influences the conclusions or interpretation.

On the other hand this is an interesting link: link: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/vigier.htm [Broken]
Interesting link to Sorkin's causets: http://www.physics.syr.edu/~sorkin/causet.program [Broken]
 
Last edited by a moderator:

1. Is Schrodinger's wife really pregnant or not?

The answer to this question depends on whether you subscribe to the Copenhagen interpretation or the Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. In the Copenhagen interpretation, the wife's pregnancy is uncertain until directly observed. In the Many-Worlds interpretation, there exists a parallel universe where the wife is pregnant and another where she is not.

2. How does Schrodinger's famous thought experiment apply to his wife's pregnancy?

Schrodinger's thought experiment was meant to illustrate the paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics, where a cat can be both alive and dead until observed. In the case of his wife's pregnancy, it highlights the uncertainty and unpredictability of quantum events, such as the development of a human embryo.

3. Can Schrodinger's wife's pregnancy be both real and not real at the same time?

In the realm of quantum mechanics, it is possible for an event to have multiple outcomes until directly observed. However, in the physical world, the wife's pregnancy can only be either real or not real at a given moment in time.

4. Can we know for certain if Schrodinger's wife is pregnant?

Again, this depends on your interpretation of quantum mechanics. In the Copenhagen interpretation, we can only know for certain if the wife is pregnant once we directly observe her. In the Many-Worlds interpretation, there exists a universe where we can observe the wife being pregnant and another where we observe her not being pregnant.

5. What implications does Schrodinger's wife's pregnancy have on quantum mechanics?

Schrodinger's wife's pregnancy serves as a philosophical and scientific illustration of the unpredictability and paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics. It challenges our understanding of reality and the role of observation in determining outcomes. It also highlights the need for further research and exploration of the principles of quantum mechanics.

Similar threads

  • Quantum Physics
5
Replies
143
Views
5K
  • Art, Music, History, and Linguistics
4
Replies
122
Views
3K
Replies
54
Views
6K
  • Quantum Interpretations and Foundations
Replies
21
Views
2K
  • Quantum Physics
Replies
6
Views
4K
  • Mechanical Engineering
2
Replies
42
Views
3K
  • Quantum Interpretations and Foundations
Replies
13
Views
2K
  • Quantum Physics
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • Quantum Physics
Replies
7
Views
3K
Replies
1
Views
2K
Back
Top