Abstract
We have called attention to the fact that all of the physical properties of macroscopic matter depend on quantum principles. This is true even of the famous Schrödinge’s Cat, which is said to embody a paradox. But we cannot attribute a quantum state to such an object, though we can describe in quantum terms some of the separate chemical reactions going on in it. Both a live cat and a dead cat are in fact a constantly changing assembly of unrelated processes going on in different parts of the organism, as well as taking place between the cat and the world around it. Deadness and liveness are not meaningful quantum numbers.
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© 1996 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
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Wallace, P.R. (1996). Macroscopic Quantum Phenomena. In: Paradox Lost. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4014-3_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4014-3_31
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