He has never been to more than one place at the same time? If you are much taller than a atom, the answer will be no.
But atoms and particles are governed by the rules of quantum mechanics, in which several different possible situations can coexist at the same time.
Quantum systems are governed by what is called a “wave function“: A mathematical object that describes the probabilities of these different possible situations.
And these different possibilities can coexist in the wave function as what is called a “overlapFrom different states. For example, a particle that there are several different places at the same time, this is what we call “spatial superposition”.
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Only when a measurement is made, the wave function “collapsesAnd the system ends in a defined state.
Habitually, quantum mechanics applies to the small world of atoms and particles. The jury is still out on what that means for large-scale objects.
In our research, published this week in Optical, we offer an experiment that can resolve this thorny question once and for all.
Erwin Schrödinger’s cat
In 1930s Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger came with your famous thought experiment on a cat in a box who, according to Quantum mechanics, could being alive and dead at the same time
In the he put a cat in a sealed box in which a random quantum event has a 50-50 chance of killing it. Until i know open the box and watch the cat, the cat is dead Yes I live at the same time.
In other words, the cat exists as a wave function (with multiple possibilities) before being observed. When watch, I know converts to a defined object.
After long debates, the scientific community at that time, he reached a consensus with the “Copenhagen Interpretation ”.
It basically says that quantum mechanics can only be applied to atoms and molecules, but cannot describe much larger objects.
It turns out they were wrong.
Over the past two decades, physicists claim to have quantum states objects made up of billions of atoms
– large enough to be seen with the naked eye. Although this has not yet spatial overlay included.
How does a wave function become real?
But how is the wave function converted into a “real” object?
What’s this physicists call it the “ quantum measurement problem ”. It puzzled scientists and philosophers for about a century.
If there is a mechanism which removes the potential for quantum superposition of large-scale objects, one would have to somehow “disturb” the wave function, which would generate heat.
If such heat is found, it implies that large-scale quantum superposition is impossible. If such heat is excluded, then nature probably doesn’t care about “being quantum” regardless of its size.
If so, with the advancement of technology we could place large objects, maybe even sentient beings, in quantum states.
Physicists don’t know what a mechanism that would prevent large-scale quantum superimpositions would look like. According to some, it is a unknown cosmological field. Other suspected severity it might have something to do with it.
This year’s Nobel laureate in physics, Roger Penrose, thinks it could be a consequence consciousness of living beings
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In pursuit of small movements
For ten years, physicists have feverishly searched for a small amount of heat that would indicate an alteration in wave function.
To find out, we would need a method capable of suppressing (as perfectly as possible) all other sources of “excessive” heat that can affect the accuracy of the measurements.
We would also need to control an effect called quantum “feedback”, in which the act of observing yourself creates heat.
In our research, we formulated such an experiment, which could reveal whether spatial superposition is possible for large-scale objects. The best experiences so far I couldn’t do it.
Find the answer with tiny vibrating rays
Our experiment would use resonators at much higher frequencies than what was used. This would eliminate the problem of the refrigerator heat.
As was the case in previous experiments, we would need to use a refrigerator at 0.01 Kelvin above absolute zero. (Absolute zero is the lowest theoretically possible temperature).
With this combination of very low temperatures and very high frequencies, vibrations in resonators undergo a process called “Bose condensation”.
You can imagine this as the resonator getting frozen so solidly that the heat from the refrigerator cannot move it, not even a little.
We would also use a different measurement strategy that does not look at the movement of the resonator at all, but the amount of energy it has. This method would also strongly remove the heat of feedback.
But how would we do this?
Individual particles of light would enter the resonator and bounce several million times, absorbing any excess energy. They would eventually leave the resonator, taking away excess energy.
By measuring the energy of the light particles exiting, we were able to determine if there was heat in the resonator.
If there was heat, it would indicate that an unknown source (which we do not control) has altered the wave function. And that would mean that the overlap cannot happen on a large scale.
Is everything quantum?
The experience we offer is a challenge. It’s not the kind of thing you can casually prepare on a Sunday afternoon. It can take years of development, millions of dollars, and a ton of expert experienced physicists.
However, it could answer one of the most fascinating questions about our reality: is everything quantum? So we think it’s worth it.
As for putting a human or a cat in quantum overlay, there’s really no way of knowing how that would affect that being.
Fortunately, this is a question we don’t have to think about just yet. 
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