{"id":350,"date":"2026-03-31T17:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/erwin-schrodinger\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T17:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T14:35:09","slug":"erwin-schrodinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/erwin-schrodinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-229\" src=\"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Schrodinger.jpg\" alt=\"Schr\u00f6dinger\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Schrodinger.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Schrodinger-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Schrodinger-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Schrodinger-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Schrodinger-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger (1877\u20131961). He was born in Vienna to an Austrian father and an English mother. A cultured and artistic man, he had a talent for presenting his views in a charming manner. He taught in Zurich, where he formulated his famous equation, as well as in Berlin, Oxford, and Dublin. At the end of his life, he returned to Vienna. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with R.A.M. Dirac in 1933.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s cat paradox is one of the most famous thought experiments in the history of science. It was proposed by physicist Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger in 1935, not to show that cats have\u2026 magical properties, but to highlight a huge problem in the interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (the physics of the microcosm).<\/p>\n<p>The paradox tells us the following:<\/p>\n<p>Imagine a cat locked inside an opaque box. Inside the box is a mechanism containing a tiny amount of radioactive material. There is a <strong>50% chance<\/strong> that within an hour, an atom will decay, and a 50% chance that it will not. If the atom decays, a detector records it, releases a poisonous gas, and the cat dies. If it does not decay, the cat lives.<\/p>\n<p>According to the rules of quantum physics, as long as the box is closed and no one sees what is happening inside, the radioactive atom is in a state called <strong>superposition<\/strong>. That is, it is <em>both<\/em> decayed <em>and<\/em> undecayed at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Since the cat\u2019s fate is directly linked to the atom, this means that until we open the box, the cat is <strong>both alive and dead at the same time!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is this paradoxical?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u03a4\u03bf \u03c0\u03c1\u03cc\u03b2\u03bb\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1 \u03c0\u03bf\u03c5 \u03ae\u03b8\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5 \u03bd\u03b1 \u03c4\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9 \u03bf Schr\u00f6dinger \u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b7 \u03c3\u03cd\u03b3\u03ba\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b7 \u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03bc\u03b5\u03c3\u03b1 \u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03bc\u03b9\u03ba\u03c1\u03cc\u03ba\u03bf\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03c1\u03cc\u03ba\u03bf\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u03a3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03bc\u03b9\u03ba\u03c1\u03cc\u03ba\u03bf\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf (\u03ba\u03b2\u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc \u03b5\u03c0\u03af\u03c0\u03b5\u03b4\u03bf):<\/strong> \u03a4\u03b1 \u03c3\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03af\u03b4\u03b9\u03b1 \u03bc\u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03bf\u03cd\u03bd \u03cc\u03bd\u03c4\u03c9\u03c2 \u03bd\u03b1 \u03b2\u03c1\u03af\u03c3\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c3\u03b5 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03bb\u03ad\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03ac\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03cc\u03c7\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03b1 (\u03c5\u03c0\u03ad\u03c1\u03b8\u03b5\u03c3\u03b7).<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u03a3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd \u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03c1\u03cc\u03ba\u03bf\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf (\u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u03b8\u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bd\u03ae \u03bc\u03b1\u03c2 \u03c0\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1):<\/strong> \u039a\u03ac\u03c4\u03b9 \u03c4\u03ad\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03bf \u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b1\u03b4\u03cd\u03bd\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf. \u039c\u03b9\u03b1 \u03b3\u03ac\u03c4\u03b1 \u03b4\u03b5\u03bd \u03bc\u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03b5\u03af \u03bd\u03b1 \u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 &#8220;\u03bc\u03b9\u03c3\u03bf\u03b6\u03ce\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b7-\u03bc\u03b9\u03c3\u03bf\u03bd\u03b5\u03ba\u03c1\u03ae&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The problem Schr\u00f6dinger wanted to highlight is the conflict between the microcosm and the macrocosm:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>In the microcosm (quantum level):<\/strong> Particles can indeed exist in multiple states simultaneously (superposition).<\/li>\n<li><strong>In the macroscopic world (our everyday reality):<\/strong> Such a thing is impossible. A cat cannot be \u201chalf-alive, half-dead.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The paradox focuses on the <strong>process of measurement or observation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>According to the classical interpretation of quantum physics (the Copenhagen Interpretation), the mere act of opening the box and looking inside \u201cforces\u201d nature to choose one of the two states. This is called <strong>wave function collapse<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-348 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-cat-en.jpg\" alt=\"Schr\u00f6dinger's cat\" width=\"1269\" height=\"696\" srcset=\"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-cat-en.jpg 1269w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-cat-en-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-cat-en-1024x562.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-cat-en-768x421.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1269px) 100vw, 1269px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Schr\u00f6dinger, then, used the cat as a hyperbolic example to say: <em>\u201cLook how absurd it sounds when we apply the rules of subatomic particles to the real world. Where exactly does quantum uncertainty end and clear reality begin?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Fun Fact:<\/strong> Schr\u00f6dinger himself loved animals and hated quantum theory (even though he helped build it). With this experiment, he wanted to show that the theory had gaps, but in the end, his example became its most popular symbol!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-349 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-joke-en.jpg\" alt=\"Schr\u00f6dinger's cat\" width=\"1269\" height=\"714\" srcset=\"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-joke-en.jpg 1269w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-joke-en-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-joke-en-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/physicomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Schrodinger-joke-en-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1269px) 100vw, 1269px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&nbsp; Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger (1877\u20131961). He was born in Vienna to an Austrian father and an English mother. A cultured and [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-superheroes"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/physicomics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}