The discoveries of the last century have confirmed: we live in a quantum world. However, our everyday perception is based on classical physics. How do quantum interactions give rise to our reality? This question remains one of the biggest mysteries of science.
One of the most famous examples of this dilemma is the imaginary “Schrödinger’s cat” experiment. It explains what quantum effects look like at the macro level: the state of the cat in the box — alive or dead — remains undefined until an observer opens the box, creating reality. However, physics still does not have an answer to exactly how this transition occurs. One idea is the Multiverse, according to which both states of the cat — living and dead — exist simultaneously, branching off into parallel realities.
Decoherence process
A new study by scientists from the Autonomous University of Barcelona provides a possible explanation for how our classical reality emerges. The results of the study are published in the journal Physical Review X. The scientists used the “decoherent stories” approach, which suggests that physical processes are a series of steps that form a sequence of events. Using supercomputer simulations of quantum processes, they analyzed the evolution of 50,000 energy levels.
The researchers found that the large-scale branchings that characterized the quantum world are gradually transitioning into stable classical reality. This decoherence process — where quantum effects become invisible to the macroscopic world — happens exponentially fast in chaotic systems with many particles.
“When the system is scaled up to thousands of particles, we find ourselves in the world of classical physics,” explains Philipp Strasber, another author of the study. According to him, this process is universal and inevitable, which is good news for our usual perception of reality.
Unresolved issues
Despite this, the study leaves an open question mark. For example, is a scenario possible where quantum effects remain prominent at the macro level, creating a reality in which Schrödinger’s cat is both alive and dead? According to scientists, such realities are rather the exception, but their existence cannot be theoretically denied.
Thus, the classical reality we live in is formed from chaotic quantum processes. This allows us not only to better understand the nature of our world, but also allows us to hope that the mysteries of quantum mechanics will one day be solved.
Earlier we covered the process of the birth of the Universe.
According to popularmechanics.com
