Quantum weirdness: superposition (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, November 07, 2015, 23:41 (3093 days ago) @ David Turell

Superposition becomes more complex. Schroeder's cat would have a problem with it:-http://phys.org/news/2015-11-quantum-superposition-events.html
In a quantum superposition, a quantum object can be in two incompatible states at the same time, which is famously illustrated by Schrödinger's dead-and-alive cat. Recent research has shown that it's possible to have a superposition not only of incompatible states, but also of incompatible orders of events. We often think of events occurring in a definite chronological order, with event A happening (and causing) event B, or vice versa. But in certain quantum processes, events don't happen in a single definite order, but instead both orders (A before B, and B before A) occur at the same time. This counterintuitive superposition-like phenomenon is called "causal nonseparability." -In everyday life, we are used to experiencing one thing always happening after another, effects following their causes," Mateus Araújo at the University of Vienna and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information in Vienna, Austria, told Phys.org. "So it is a bit unsettling to realize that deep down Nature doesn't work like this, that things can happen without a definite causal order, where we cannot say what is the cause and what is the effect."-***-Quantum theory, on the other hand, has shaken our understanding of reality by telling us that physical systems may not have well-defined properties, and may be in a 'superposition' of incompatible states. For example, a poor cat could be both alive and dead at the same time. Now we find that not just physical properties, but also causal relations (or causal orders) themselves can be undefined, and can be put in some kind of superposition—a phenomenon that had not been observed experimentally until very recently."-***-As the researchers explain, just because the quantum switch is causally nonseparable (meaning the operations do not follow a definite order), this does not mean that it violates any causal inequality (which would happen if a future event were to cause a past event). This is because there is no definite past or future in the quantum switch; neither event definitely comes before or after the other. Although the quantum switch does not violate any causal inequality, the question remains open as to whether any practical, physical process that can be experimentally realized may do so.-Comment: Here again, everything is solved if quantum reality is a parallel region as Kastner described. All the nuttiness happens over there in quantum fashion and then comes over here to confuse everyone. Still makes perfect sense to me.