Non Cat

I've decided what this blog needs is a certain amount of Quantum Mechanics. This, as we all know, is the branch of Physics that brought us Schrodinger's Cat, the iconic thought experiment that illustrated the Uncertainty Principle.

This Principle states that the result of a Quantum Mechanics experiment can exist in two mutually exclusive Quantum States right up to the point that it is observed. Only after the point of observation does the result of the experiement become plain. A object can exist and not exist at the same time and it is only when it is observed that the actual result can be known.

As Schrodinger guessed, this may be applied to non sub-atomic particles, and here I illustrate it with his actual cat. 

As you can see, it is indeed in a Quantum state.

Now here we have the cat at the very moment of observation. At this point it is in limbo, it's not clear if the cat exists or does not exist.

Here is the result. Clearly in this case the Cat does not exist. This turns out to be the experimental result on a surpising number of occasions.  In fact the growth in clandestine Shrodinger's Cat experiments has brought with it a remarkable rise in the number of missing Cats. Walk around your neighbourhood, or glance in the window of your newsagents. 

Each one of these plaintive "Have you seen our Cat" posters is actually the result of someone's secret Quantum Mechanics experiment.

By the way, Financiers have recently applied this methodology to banking. The theory states that the bank has money in its vault and is also simultaneously bankrupt at the same time. These conditions exist comfortably together until someone examines the accounts.

Its all just Quantum Mechanics...

PS. I will have written more on this subject in the future