分裂宇宙

2022年4月24日

Split the Universe
Image Credit: NASA, Erwin Schrödinger's cat

Explanation: Just now, before you hit the button, two future universes are possible. After pressing the button, though, you will live in only one. A real-web version of the famous Schrödinger's cat experiment clicking the red button in the featured astronaut image should transform that image into a picture of the same astronaut holding one of two cats -- one living, or one dead. The timing of your click, combined with the wiring of your brain and the millisecond timing of your device, will all conspire together to create a result dominated, potentially, by the randomness of quantum mechanics. Some believe that your personally-initiated quantum decision will split the universe in two, and that both the live-cat and dead-cat universes exist in separate parts of a larger multiverse. Others believe that the result of your click will collapse the two possible universes into one -- in a way that could not have been predicted beforehand. Yet others believe that the universe is classically deterministic, so that by pressing the button you did not really split the universe, but just carried out an action predestined since time began. We at APOD believe that however silly you may feel clicking the red button, and regardless of the outcome, you should have a thought-provoking day. Or two.

Tomorrow's picture: great carina

分裂宇宙
影像提供: NASA, Erwin Schrödinger's cat

说明: 在你按下按钮之前，二种可能的未来宇宙同时存在。不过在按下按钮之后，你只能活在其中之一。在这个网路版薛定谔的猫的实验里，点选这张以太空人为主题的影像之红按钮，会把影像换成另一张由同个太空人举着活猫或死猫照片的影像。你点选的时间点、你脑子的网络和你点选设备的毫秒级时间精度，合起来造成了这个由量子力学随机性所主控的结果。有人认为，由你所引发的量子决定将把宇宙分割为二，而死猫宇宙和活猫的宇宙，分别位在一个更大的多重宇宙之不同区域。其他人则认为，你的点选会把这二个可能宇宙塌缩成一个，但到底是那一个，原则上什至事先无法预测。另外更有人相信，宇宙是古典而且确定的，所以你按钮的举动不会真的造成宇宙分裂，只是执行了开天辟地时就已经定下的行为。然而，不管你是否觉得按红钮的举止很蠢，也不管出现的虚猫是活是死，每日天文图的编辑们认为你应该偶而过过深度思索的日子。

明日的图片: great carina