| It is natural to ask why ordinary everyday objects and events do not seem to display quantum mechanical features such as superposition. Indeed, this is sometimes regarded as "mysterious", for instance by Richard Feynman.<ref>[[Richard Feynman|Feynman, R. P.]], Leighton, R. B., Sands, M. (1965), § 1-1.</ref> In 1935, [[Erwin Schrödinger]] devised a well-known thought experiment, now known as [[Schrödinger's cat]], which highlighted this dissonance between quantum mechanics and classical physics. One modern view is that this mystery is explained by [[quantum decoherence]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} A macroscopic system (such as a cat) may evolve over time into a superposition of classically distinct quantum states (such as "alive" and "dead"). The mechanism that achieves this is a subject of significant research, one mechanism suggests that the state of the cat is entangled with the state of its environment (for instance, the molecules in the atmosphere surrounding it), when averaged over the possible quantum states of the environment (a physically reasonable procedure unless the quantum state of the environment can be controlled or measured precisely) the resulting [[density matrix|mixed quantum state]] for the cat is very close to a classical probabilistic state where the cat has some definite probability to be dead or alive, just as a classical observer would expect in this situation. Another proposed class of theories is that the fundamental time evolution equation is incomplete, and requires the addition of some type of fundamental [[Lindbladian]], the reason for this addition and the form of the additional term varies from theory to theory. A popular theory is [[Objective-collapse theory|Continuous spontaneous localization]], where the lindblad term is proportional to the spatial separation of the states, this too results in a quasi-classical probabilistic state. | | It is natural to ask why ordinary everyday objects and events do not seem to display quantum mechanical features such as superposition. Indeed, this is sometimes regarded as "mysterious", for instance by Richard Feynman.<ref>[[Richard Feynman|Feynman, R. P.]], Leighton, R. B., Sands, M. (1965), § 1-1.</ref> In 1935, [[Erwin Schrödinger]] devised a well-known thought experiment, now known as [[Schrödinger's cat]], which highlighted this dissonance between quantum mechanics and classical physics. One modern view is that this mystery is explained by [[quantum decoherence]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} A macroscopic system (such as a cat) may evolve over time into a superposition of classically distinct quantum states (such as "alive" and "dead"). The mechanism that achieves this is a subject of significant research, one mechanism suggests that the state of the cat is entangled with the state of its environment (for instance, the molecules in the atmosphere surrounding it), when averaged over the possible quantum states of the environment (a physically reasonable procedure unless the quantum state of the environment can be controlled or measured precisely) the resulting [[density matrix|mixed quantum state]] for the cat is very close to a classical probabilistic state where the cat has some definite probability to be dead or alive, just as a classical observer would expect in this situation. Another proposed class of theories is that the fundamental time evolution equation is incomplete, and requires the addition of some type of fundamental [[Lindbladian]], the reason for this addition and the form of the additional term varies from theory to theory. A popular theory is [[Objective-collapse theory|Continuous spontaneous localization]], where the lindblad term is proportional to the spatial separation of the states, this too results in a quasi-classical probabilistic state. |
| It is natural to ask why ordinary everyday objects and events do not seem to display quantum mechanical features such as superposition. Indeed, this is sometimes regarded as "mysterious", for instance by Richard Feynman. In 1935, Erwin Schrödinger devised a well-known thought experiment, now known as Schrödinger's cat, which highlighted this dissonance between quantum mechanics and classical physics. One modern view is that this mystery is explained by quantum decoherence. A macroscopic system (such as a cat) may evolve over time into a superposition of classically distinct quantum states (such as "alive" and "dead"). The mechanism that achieves this is a subject of significant research, one mechanism suggests that the state of the cat is entangled with the state of its environment (for instance, the molecules in the atmosphere surrounding it), when averaged over the possible quantum states of the environment (a physically reasonable procedure unless the quantum state of the environment can be controlled or measured precisely) the resulting mixed quantum state for the cat is very close to a classical probabilistic state where the cat has some definite probability to be dead or alive, just as a classical observer would expect in this situation. Another proposed class of theories is that the fundamental time evolution equation is incomplete, and requires the addition of some type of fundamental Lindbladian, the reason for this addition and the form of the additional term varies from theory to theory. A popular theory is Continuous spontaneous localization, where the lindblad term is proportional to the spatial separation of the states, this too results in a quasi-classical probabilistic state. | | It is natural to ask why ordinary everyday objects and events do not seem to display quantum mechanical features such as superposition. Indeed, this is sometimes regarded as "mysterious", for instance by Richard Feynman. In 1935, Erwin Schrödinger devised a well-known thought experiment, now known as Schrödinger's cat, which highlighted this dissonance between quantum mechanics and classical physics. One modern view is that this mystery is explained by quantum decoherence. A macroscopic system (such as a cat) may evolve over time into a superposition of classically distinct quantum states (such as "alive" and "dead"). The mechanism that achieves this is a subject of significant research, one mechanism suggests that the state of the cat is entangled with the state of its environment (for instance, the molecules in the atmosphere surrounding it), when averaged over the possible quantum states of the environment (a physically reasonable procedure unless the quantum state of the environment can be controlled or measured precisely) the resulting mixed quantum state for the cat is very close to a classical probabilistic state where the cat has some definite probability to be dead or alive, just as a classical observer would expect in this situation. Another proposed class of theories is that the fundamental time evolution equation is incomplete, and requires the addition of some type of fundamental Lindbladian, the reason for this addition and the form of the additional term varies from theory to theory. A popular theory is Continuous spontaneous localization, where the lindblad term is proportional to the spatial separation of the states, this too results in a quasi-classical probabilistic state. |