On Thursday, July 5, 2018 at 5:14:34 PM UTC-6, Brent wrote: > > > > On 7/5/2018 3:55 PM, agrays...@gmail.com <javascript:> wrote: > > > > On Thursday, July 5, 2018 at 2:03:46 PM UTC-6, Brent wrote: >> >> >> >> On 7/5/2018 11:27 AM, agrays...@gmail.com wrote: >> >> >> >> On Wednesday, July 4, 2018 at 10:57:06 AM UTC-6, Brent wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> On 7/4/2018 1:57 AM, 'scerir' via Everything List wrote: >>> >>> >>> *No. I am asserting that the INTERPRETATION of the superposition of >>> states is wrong. Although I have asked several times, no one here seems >>> able to offer a plausible justification for interpreting that a system in a >>> superposition of states, is physically in all states of the superposition >>> SIMULTANEOUSLY before the system is measured. If we go back to those little >>> pointing things, you will see there exists an infinite uncountable set of >>> basis vectors for any vector in that linear vector space. For quantum >>> systems, there is no unique basis, and in many cases also infinitely many >>> bases, So IMO, the interpretation is not justified. AG* >>> >>> ***SIMULTANEOUSLY*** was used by EPR in their paper, but that did not >>> have much meaning (operationally, physically). >>> >>> Can we say that the observable, in a superposition state, has a >>> ***DEFINITE*** value between two measurements? >>> >>> No - in general - we cannot say that. >>> >>> >>> It's in some definite state. But it may be a state for which we have no >>> measurement operator or don't intend to measure; so we say it is in a >>> superposition, meaning a superposition of the eigenstates we're going to >>> measure. So it does not have one of the eigenvalues of our measurement. >>> >>> Brent >>> >> >> *So for the radioactive source, the superposed state, Decayed + >> Undecayed, does NOT imply the system is in both states simultaneously? * >> >> >> No, it is in a state that consists of Decayed+Undecayed. So in a sense >> it is in both simulatnaeously. If you are sailing a heading of 45deg you >> are on a definite heading. But you are simultaneously traveling North and >> East. And if someone was watching you with a radar that could only output >> "moving north" or "moving east" it would oscillate between the two and you >> might call that a superposition of north and east motion. >> >> Brent >> > > *I see. But as I have pointed out, there are uncountably many sets of > basis vectors that result in the same vector along the 45 deg direction. > Thus, it makes no sense to single out a particular basis and claim it is > simultaneously in both. * > > > That's where you're wrong. It makes perfect sense if that's the only > basis you can measure in. That's why I gave the hypothetical example of a > radar that could only report motion as northward or eastward. In some > cases, like decayed our not-decayed, we don't have instruments to measure > the superposition state. In other cases like sliver atom spin we can > measure up/down or left/right or along any other axis. > > *ISTM, this is the cause of many of the apparent paradoxes in QM such as > Schroedinger's cat, or a radioactive source which is decayed and undecayed > simultaneously. I have no objection using such a state to do a calculation, > but I think it's an error to further interpret a superposition in terms of > simultaneity of component states. What say you? AG* > > > I say use what's convenient for calculation. Don't imagine your > calculation is the reality. >
*But the consensus, perhaps unstated or subliminally, is that the superposition is imagined as reality, which leads to cats and radioactive sources being (respectively) alive and dead, and decayed and undecayed, simultaneously. Isn't this what Schroedinger was arguing against? I have rarely, if ever, seen it argued NOT to interpret a superposition as reality as a proposed solution to these apparent paradoxes. AG * > > Brent > > >> *Same for cat, Alive + Dead? Same for ( (Undecayed, Alive) + (Decayed, >> Dead) ) for Schroedinger's composite system? If that's the case, why would >> anyone think these states are in any way paradoxical or contradictory? AG* >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Everything List" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to everything-li...@googlegroups.com. >> To post to this group, send email to everyth...@googlegroups.com. >> Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> >> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to everything-li...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. > To post to this group, send email to everyth...@googlegroups.com > <javascript:>. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
