Superposition
Dimensions: 18” H X 24” W X 1.5” D. Landscape orientation.
Acrylic paint, open-sourced printed materials overlaid with high gloss varnish.
Original Artwork $750 + shipping.
Contact artist for purchase.
Erwin Schrödinger
This collage celebrates the work of Erwin Schrödinger. He was born in Austria on August 12, 1887. Schrödinger was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who was famous for his seminal equation in quantum field theory, called the Schrödinger equation. This equation provided a way to calculate the wave function of a system and how it changes with time. Used in many ways, his equation can predict the most probable location of an electron in an atom, find the allowed energy levels of atoms or transistors and shows all of the wave like properties of matter. He was also famous for statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, color theory, electrodynamics, general relativity, cosmology, and genetics. His "Schrödinger's Cat" thought experiment became iconic in the physics community. A cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are placed in a box. If radioactivity is detected (e.g. Geiger counter), the flask is shattered, releasing the poison, which kills the cat. When someone looks into the box the cat is either alive or dead. However, before someone looks into the box, the cat is both alive and dead, simultaneously according to quantum superposition theory. Where does quantum superposition end and reality collapse into one possibility or the other becomes the question. Schrödinger died January 4, 1961 in Vienna, Austria. To find out more about the elements used in this collage, please see an explanation below. which explained quantum superposition, the feature of a quantum system to exist in several separate quantum states at the same time.
Elements of Art
08121887
01041961
A picture of Schrödinger
Schrödinger Equation
Wave interaction graphic
Nobel Prize 1933
Schrödinger signature
Probability
Atomic Theory
Wave Mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Molecular model
1s, 2s, 2px, 2py, 2pz
The Schrödinger Crater on the moon
Double-slit experiment
1926
PSI (Ψ)
Quantum Superposition
Schrödinger's Cat
Explanation of Elements
08121887=Schrödinger was born
01041961=Schrödinger died
A picture of Schrödinger from the 1930's having fun.
1926 was the year Schrödinger published his seminal paper Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem (Quantization as an Eigenvalue Problem), which presented an equation that would be known ever after as the Schrödinger equation.
An electron's location cannot be pinpointed, but the probability that it is in an area, cloud, or shell about the nucleus can be determined by using Schrödinger's equation.
The wave interaction graphic visually illustrates how waves interact.
The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded in 1933 to Erwin Schrödinger and Paul Dirac for the discovery of new productive forms of atomic theory.
Erwin Schrödinger's signature is from Wikipedia.
Probability is the likelihood of something happening or being true.
Atomic Theory states that all matter is made up of tiny indivisible particles called
atoms.
Wave mechanics is the analysis of atomic phenomena with particles represented by the wave equation that Schrödinger created.
Quantum mechanics is the branch of mechanics that deals with the mathematical description of motion and interaction of subatomic particles, incorporating the concepts of packets of energy or quanta, wave-particle duality, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and the correspondence principle.
The molecular model is the physical model that represents molecules and their processes.
1s, 2s, 2px, 2py, 2pz are all orbitals where the probability wave functions define the location of electrons at different energy levels.
The moon crater named after Schrödinger is located on the Southern lunar pole on the moon's far side.
Double-slit experiment: demonstrates how photons or particles of matter (like an electron) produce a wave pattern when sent through two slits.
Schrödinger's equation was published in 1926 in the paper Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem (Quantization as an Eigenvalue Problem). This equation is the basic equation of motion in quantum mechanics and is used extensively in understanding and engineering superconductors used in computer chips.
Atomic Theory states that all matter is made up of tiny indivisible particles called atoms.
PSI (Ψ) is a wave function in Schrödinger's equation.
Quantum Superposition is the principle that states any two (or more) quantum states can be added together or "superposed," and the result will be another valid quantum state. Conversely, any quantum state can be represented as a sum of two or more other distinct states. This concept mathematically refers to solutions to the Schrödinger equation.
Schrödinger came up with a thought experiment that defined quantum superposition called Schrödinder's Cat. A cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are placed in a box. If an internal monitor detects radioactivity, the flask is shattered, releasing the poison, which kills the cat. The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics implies as some time elapses, the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. However, when one looks in the box, one sees the cat either alive or dead, not both. The conundrum is when does quantum superposition end and reality collapse into one possibility or the other.
The Schrödinger equation is used to find the allowed energy levels of quantum mechanical systems. The wave function gives the probability of finding the particle at a certain position.
References:
“Erwin Schrödinger.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Schr%C3%B6dinger.
“Oxford Languages and Google - English.” Oxford Languages, languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/.