Episode 3: Ted makes the call (superposition of states and Schrödinger´s cat)

So far, Ted´s attempts to find himself a date have led us through the ideas of probability and that light comes in individual lumps known as photons. We left him as he was about to make a call to a girl he had met the night before… Having finally worked up the courage following his lighting-related [...]

The Quantum Disco: Episode 2

Last time, physicist Ted head out to find himself a date, by chatting to girls in a bar, handily illustrating something about probability… Essentially any one event has an unpredictable outcome, but quantum events, ruled by probability, become predictable when enough are taken into account. Quantum physics, like trying to get a date, is non-deterministic! [...]

The Quantum Disco, Episode 1

Last week, in a comment on this blog, Marty Walpole challenged me to explain what quantum physics is in layman’s terms. Well I’m not one to let a challenge like that pass, so here goes… It’s going to take several posts… Ted is a young quantum physicist, but he’s also single and determined to do something [...]