Is the egg balanced on a knife in multiple universes at once?

[alfredblase]

I'm convinced that either something similar to MWI, XOR something deterministic along the lines of Bohmian mechanics is more correct than the Copenhagen interpretation.

So how do we choose between them?

When I was little (around 13) I was convinced that if an egg was perfectly balanced on the edge of a knife but that also if that egg was bound to fall, that the egg would fall both to the left and to the right of the edge.. and that in this way two parallel experiences would occur.

I abandoned that idea when I learned a little QM beacuase quite clearly it had nothing to do with eggs.

However now I'm not so sure... the phycisist in me loves the deterministic and singular version of reality presented by Bohmian mechanics, (perhaps even more if there could be some such theory with the same essence but that Einstein had not found too unelegant)... but then egg example is very appealing also...

Think about it: the egg is perfectly balanced which means that any unbalancedness of the egg is due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and so whether the egg is going to fall to the left or to the right is actually described by a quantum superposition of possibilities. Of course the egg will fall. However since it is in all other respects a classical object it cannot follow any Quantum action principle to decide which way to fall such as I suppse is given by Bohmian Mechanics... which means that we are left with many world interpretations as being the only true interpretations of QM.. (since we use a purely probabilistic rule like the Born rule to select the way we see it fall)
what do u reckon vanesch? have I convinced you that MWI must be correct? hehe xDD. Of course you are all welcome to comment =)

Alfred

 

[koantum]

Hyperion and the quantum egg

Check out http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/02/990202072053.htm". Excerpt:

There are macroscopic, chaotic systems that can get into all sorts of bizarre trouble from a quantum-mechanical perspective...

Hyperion, an odd-shaped moon of Saturn, is known to be a chaotic system as it tumbles along its orbital path, its orientation continually redirected by Saturn's gravitational field. According to quantum theory, it should take less than 20 years for Hyperion to get into a quantum state, in which it would be simultaneously in a non-classical superposition of many orientations.

But, thanks to decoherence, Hyperion's major axis is not simultaneously pointed toward and away from Saturn, awaiting a measurement to define its orientation.​

It's decoherence that makes the egg go one way or the other. But no! Zurek, Zeh, and Co. would say it goes both ways - as do we...

 

[quantumcarl]

I'm convinced that either something similar to MWI, XOR something deterministic along the lines of Bohmian mechanics is more correct than the Copenhagen interpretation.

So how do we choose between them?

When I was little (around 13) I was convinced that if an egg was perfectly balanced on the edge of a knife but that also if that egg was bound to fall, that the egg would fall both to the left and to the right of the edge.. and that in this way two parallel experiences would occur.

I abandoned that idea when I learned a little QM beacuase quite clearly it had nothing to do with eggs.

However now I'm not so sure... the phycisist in me loves the deterministic and singular version of reality presented by Bohmian mechanics, (perhaps even more if there could be some such theory with the same essence but that Einstein had not found too unelegant)... but then egg example is very appealing also...

Think about it: the egg is perfectly balanced which means that any unbalancedness of the egg is due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, and so whether the egg is going to fall to the left or to the right is actually described by a quantum superposition of possibilities. Of course the egg will fall. However since it is in all other respects a classical object it cannot follow any Quantum action principle to decide which way to fall such as I suppse is given by Bohmian Mechanics... which means that we are left with many world interpretations as being the only true interpretations of QM.. (since we use a purely probabilistic rule like the Born rule to select the way we see it fall)
what do u reckon vanesch? have I convinced you that MWI must be correct? hehe xDD. Of course you are all welcome to comment =)

Alfred

I will ask the obvious questions here, its my job!

Is the egg underwater with the knife?

Is the egg in space on the edge of the knife?

Did one of the mechanical rovers on Mar's flap its solar panel and if so was the date of that event earlier than the event of the balancing egg on a knife's edge?

Once the various environments holding the egg and the knife are ruled out we can, perhaps, proceed to the equation that may or may not illustrate that the position of the egg and its balance or imbalance is a superposition and or if it is positioned simultanieously in many worlds, some with knives, some without... some with eggs and some without.