Schroedinger's cat

Noun

Schrödinger's cat (plural Schrödinger's cats)

1. A hypothetical cat that is depicted as being surrounded by perfectly uncertain circumstances that make an external observer absolutely unable to deem the cat either alive or dead, especially if the possibilities of survival of the cat are expected to be analysed from the point of view of quantum mechanics. Typically, these circumstances involve the cat being inside a box while being the victim of a danger that may or may not kill it, such as radiation.
   • A cat like yours is a Schrödinger's cat, sealed up in an office where someone's disintegration provides a 50-50 chance of its death.2000, Thalia Field, Point and line, New Directions Publishing, →ISBN, page 8
2. (broadly) Any hypothetical situation whose circumstances make it impossible to see which among two contrary propositions is correct, especially if the situation is expected to be analysed from the point of view of quantum mechanics.
   • To see how, let us consider a nested system of Schrödinger's cats.2004, Colin Bruce, Schrödinger's Rabbits: The Many Worlds of Quantum, page 83

See all 4 meanings of Schrödinger's cat