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.,

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