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Friday, January 28, 2022

12 Best of Schrödinger’s Cat

If there are two things the internet loves (that are safe for work), it’s memes, and cats. So, naturally today is a perfect storm of internet fabulousness – the birthday of Erwin Rudolf Josef Alexander Schrödinger. He was an Austrian physicist, and over the course of his life developed a number of fundamental results in the field of quantum theory, which formed the basis of wave mechanics.

But, to non-professional quantum theorists, he is best known for his “cat” … or his ex-cat. We’re not quite sure.

Schrödinger’s catis a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects, resulting in a contradiction with common sense. The scenario presents a cat that may be both alive and dead, depending on an earlier random event. Although the original “experiment” was imaginary, similar principles have been researched and used in practical applications. The thought experiment is also often featured in theoretical discussions of the interpretations of quantum mechanics. In the course of developing this experiment, Schrödinger coined the term Verschränkung (entanglement).

Or put another way – This.

So, you can imagine what happens if you take a cat, and a geeky theoretical thought experiment, and entangle them in the worldwide web. The results are not uncertain. There is a 100% chance you will get memes, and merchandise.

To save you having to Google all this, and because we now know that the act of observing what you seek will actually force an outcome which may, in theory, create a parallel universe, I will save you and the laws of quantum physics all that trouble, and simply show you the Top 12 Schrödinger’s Cat memes. If you need more, you’re on your own.

And feel free to share any of your favorites not included here in the comments.

Happy Cat and/or Ex-Cat Day.

cat4

 

cat8

 

cat7

 

cat6

 

cat5

 

cat14

cat13

 

cat12

 

 

cat1

cat9

 

schrodingerscat_fullpic

 

cat3

 

 

OK, we’ll make it a baker’s dozen.

cat10

Comments

comments

Comments
4 Responses to “12 Best of Schrödinger’s Cat”
  1. Mo says:

    Thanks for these! I think I’ll bookmark this post for whenever I need to grin.

  2. mike from iowa says:

    If Schrodinger taught smile and “wave mechanics” to poiticians,he deserves to die. Actually it makes sense that he lives on even in death.

  3. Pinwheel says:

    Ah MKR, you are amazing, or not, with explanations, confusion, likes and dislikes. The memes keep me speechless or catch my soapbox on FB. n

  4. slipstream says:

    I enjoyed this post.

    I did not enjoy this post.