
Atoms can be in two places at the same time - jonbaer
http://phys.org/news/2015-01-atoms.html
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xenadu02
This has to be one of the worst dumbed-down explanations of quantum mechanics
I've ever seen and I barely grasp the basics of quantum mechanics.

I think they are saying the experiment can test whether a whole atom can be in
a super-positional quantum state (until observed) which would be the
equivalent of the double-slit experiment but with a much larger entity
composed of multiple particles.

I'm not sure if thinking of particles as discrete packets of excitations of
fields in space-time is a valid way to conceptualize QM but I know particles
aren't the little round balls we tend to think of. I wish we had a model that
more accurately described QM but in simple terms like the traditional view of
the atom composed of little balls orbiting.

~~~
whitten
As to simple terms, I assume you are talking about a conceptual model.

The problem with a conceptual model really is that we have only a few
conceptual native schema to work with. I.E. As we grow up and observe the
world, we don't seem to need more than about twenty five. (See George Lakoff's
work) We deal with the world of macro-effects, so none of them have the
desired qualities of having a super-positional state that resolves when we
observe it.

If you are talking about a mathematical model, I think they tend to be even
more abstract, and definitely not intuitive until you spend a lot of time with
them.

