Chemistry in a Computer: Advancing the in Silico Dream
Abstract
This results, to a very good approximation, in a small Schrödinger kitten state of the remaining light pulse.Finally, they used a high-quality homodyne detector to measure the state of the pulse (more precisely, its Wigner function, which is a special kind of probablity distribution in phase space).The mean photon number in the pulse is slightly less than one.This seems disappointingly small.However, the light pulse is in a coherent state (more precisely, in a superposition of two coherent states), and coherent states are themselves superpositions of states with arbitrarily high photon numbers.In order to compare their results with simulations, the authors had to expand the coherent states up to photon-number states with five photons.Five photons may still seem like a very dim pulse, but it is actually bright enough to be seen with the naked eye (when at the optimal wavelength).Furthermore, the theorists know how to breed Schrödinger cats from kittens using linear optics.Hence, in principle, the race toward larger and larger Schrödinger cat states is on, although the technical path is full of pitfalls.The question of whether there is a fundamental size limit to Schrödinger cat states remains open.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a simulation / modelling, done in computer models (in silico), not in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.
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