Schrödinger's cat thought experiment
E244413
Schrödinger's cat thought experiment is a famous quantum mechanics paradox that illustrates the problem of applying quantum superposition to everyday objects by imagining a cat that is simultaneously alive and dead until observed.
All labels observed (5)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Schrödinger's cat thought experiment canonical | 2 |
| Schroedinger's cat thought experiment | 1 |
| Schrödinger's cat paradox | 1 |
| Schrödinger’s cat | 1 |
| Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2176946 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Schrödinger's cat thought experiment Context triple: [Erwin Schrödinger, knownFor, Schrödinger's cat thought experiment]
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A.
Maxwell's demon thought experiment
Maxwell's demon thought experiment is a famous conceptual scenario in thermodynamics that imagines an intelligent being seemingly violating the second law by sorting fast and slow gas molecules without expending energy.
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B.
Wigner’s friend thought experiment
Wigner’s friend thought experiment is a foundational quantum mechanics scenario that explores the role of observers and consciousness in measurement by considering how different observers can assign conflicting quantum states to the same system.
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C.
Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is a foundational philosophical framework that emphasizes probabilistic wavefunctions, measurement-induced collapse, and the central role of observation in determining physical reality.
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D.
Bohr–Einstein debates
The Bohr–Einstein debates were a series of famous early 20th-century discussions between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein about the foundations and interpretation of quantum mechanics, particularly concerning determinism, realism, and the completeness of the theory.
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E.
Laplace’s demon
Laplace’s demon is a hypothetical intellect in classical determinism that, knowing all forces and positions of particles at one time, could predict the entire future and reconstruct the entire past of the universe.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Schrödinger's cat thought experiment Target entity description: Schrödinger's cat thought experiment is a famous quantum mechanics paradox that illustrates the problem of applying quantum superposition to everyday objects by imagining a cat that is simultaneously alive and dead until observed.
-
A.
Maxwell's demon thought experiment
Maxwell's demon thought experiment is a famous conceptual scenario in thermodynamics that imagines an intelligent being seemingly violating the second law by sorting fast and slow gas molecules without expending energy.
-
B.
Wigner’s friend thought experiment
Wigner’s friend thought experiment is a foundational quantum mechanics scenario that explores the role of observers and consciousness in measurement by considering how different observers can assign conflicting quantum states to the same system.
-
C.
Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics
The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is a foundational philosophical framework that emphasizes probabilistic wavefunctions, measurement-induced collapse, and the central role of observation in determining physical reality.
-
D.
Bohr–Einstein debates
The Bohr–Einstein debates were a series of famous early 20th-century discussions between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein about the foundations and interpretation of quantum mechanics, particularly concerning determinism, realism, and the completeness of the theory.
-
E.
Laplace’s demon
Laplace’s demon is a hypothetical intellect in classical determinism that, knowing all forces and positions of particles at one time, could predict the entire future and reconstruct the entire past of the universe.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
paradox
ⓘ
quantum mechanics thought experiment ⓘ thought experiment ⓘ |
| addressesProblem |
boundary between quantum and classical worlds
ⓘ
how and when quantum superposition ends ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | Austria ⓘ |
| creator | Erwin Schrödinger ⓘ |
| criticizes | naive application of the Copenhagen interpretation to macroscopic objects ⓘ |
| culturalImpact |
became a popular symbol of quantum weirdness in popular culture
ⓘ
inspired numerous references in literature, film, and television ⓘ |
| field | quantum mechanics ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeName |
Schrödinger's cat thought experiment
ⓘ
surface form:
Schroedinger's cat thought experiment
Schrödinger's cat thought experiment ⓘ
surface form:
Schrödinger's cat paradox
|
| hasComponent |
Geiger–Müller tube
ⓘ
surface form:
Geiger counter
cat ⓘ hammer mechanism ⓘ radioactive atom ⓘ sealed box ⓘ vial of poison ⓘ |
| hasInterpretation |
in decoherence approaches macroscopic superpositions rapidly lose coherence
ⓘ
in the Copenhagen interpretation the wave function collapses upon observation ⓘ in the many-worlds interpretation the cat is alive in one branch and dead in another ⓘ |
| illustratesConcept |
entanglement between microscopic and macroscopic systems
ⓘ
macroscopic superposition ⓘ measurement problem in quantum mechanics ⓘ observer effect ⓘ quantum superposition ⓘ wave function collapse ⓘ |
| initialCondition |
cat is placed in a sealed box with a lethal device triggered by atomic decay
ⓘ
radioactive atom has a 50 percent chance to decay in a given time ⓘ |
| keyClaim |
before observation the cat is in a superposition of alive and dead states
ⓘ
observation forces the system into a definite state ⓘ |
| language | originally formulated in German ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Erwin Schrödinger ⓘ |
| notableFor |
highlighting the counterintuitive implications of quantum theory
ⓘ
raising philosophical questions about reality and observation ⓘ |
| originalPublication | Die gegenwärtige Situation in der Quantenmechanik ⓘ |
| originalPublicationType | scientific paper ⓘ |
| originalPublicationYear | 1935 ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1935 ⓘ |
| purpose |
criticize the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics
ⓘ
illustrate the problem of applying quantum superposition to macroscopic objects ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox
ⓘ
surface form:
EPR paradox
Wigner’s friend thought experiment ⓘ
surface form:
Wigner's friend thought experiment
decoherence theory ⓘ many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics ⓘ quantum measurement theory ⓘ |
| usedAs | pedagogical tool in teaching quantum mechanics ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Schrödinger's cat thought experiment Description of subject: Schrödinger's cat thought experiment is a famous quantum mechanics paradox that illustrates the problem of applying quantum superposition to everyday objects by imagining a cat that is simultaneously alive and dead until observed.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics
→
relatedConcept
→
Schrödinger's cat thought experiment
ⓘ
this entity surface form:
Schrödinger’s cat
this entity surface form:
Schrödinger's cat paradox
this entity surface form:
Schroedinger's cat thought experiment
this entity surface form:
Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment