Unboxing the secrets of Schrödinger’s Cat

The experiment remains one of the most important of its kind in the field of quantum mechanics but researchers at TU Delft are now one step closer to unravelling its mysteries. Earlier this month, they succeeded in cooling a millimetre-sized vibrating membrane to 34 microkelvin. This temperature is a mere 34 millionths of a degree above absolute zero.

One of the most complex predictions in the field theorises that it’s possible for an object to be in two places at the same time or, in the case of the physicist’s famous feline, two different physical states.

“Although it seems crazy, quantum mechanics also tells us that the same rules should also apply for macroscopic objects: a coffee cup can be on the table and in the dishwasher at the same time, or Schrödinger’s cat can be in a quantum superposition of being dead and alive,” Dr. Gary Steele said in a recent university press release. The associate professor, who works in the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft, supervised the project.

The project itself involved cooling the tiny mechanical membrane using microwave cavities. These resonators work in a manner similar to a microwave oven but, obviously, they cool instead of warming. By cooling the membrane to 34 millionths of a degree above absolute zero, Steele and his colleagues set a new record.

The researchers presented their findings in the October 9, 2015 edition of Nature Communications, an open access scientific journal. From here, they hope to work on further experiments that will freeze objects to an even cooler state and eventually get one to reach a quantum superposition state where it will be temporarily located in two different places while moving up and down at the same time.

While the project was a step forward in the field, Schrödinger’s conundrum remains unsolved. “Why the cat is only either dead or alive, and not both at the same time, is still an open question in quantum mechanics,” Dr. Steele said.