Quantum Superposition - Experiments and Applications

Experiments and Applications

Successful experiments involving superpositions of relatively large (by the standards of quantum physics) objects have been performed.

  • A "cat state" has been achieved with photons.
  • A beryllium ion has been trapped in a superposed state.
  • A double slit experiment has been performed with molecules as large as buckyballs.
  • An experiment involving a superconducting quantum interference device ("SQUID") has been linked to theme of the thought experiment: " The superposition state does not correspond to a billion electrons flowing one way and a billion others flowing the other way. Superconducting electrons move en masse. All the superconducting electrons in the SQUID flow both ways around the loop at once when they are in the Schrödinger’s cat state."
  • A piezoelectric "tuning fork" has been constructed, which can be placed into a superposition of vibrating and non vibrating states. The resonator comprises about 10 trillion atoms.
  • An experiment involving a flu virus has been proposed.
  • The Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that at any given time, an electrons speed and location cannot be determined, it will already have changed.

In quantum computing the phrase "cat state" often refers to the special entanglement of qubits wherein the qubits are in an equal superposition of all being 0 and all being 1; i.e.,

.

Read more about this topic:  Quantum Superposition

Famous quotes containing the words experiments and and/or experiments:

    “Science is a dynamic undertaking directed to lowering the degree of the empiricism involved in solving problems; or, if you prefer, science is a process of fabricating a web of interconnected concepts and conceptual schemes arising from experiments and observations and fruitful of further experiments and observations.”
    —James Conant (1893–1978)

    “The trouble with tea is that originally it was quite a good drink. So a group of the most eminent British scientists put their heads together, and made complicated biological experiments to find a way of spoiling it. To the eternal glory of British science their labour bore fruit.”
    —George Mikes (b. 1912)