Journal Article 1 Mention
THE PRESENT SITUATION IN QUANTUM MECHANICS: A TRANSLATION OF SCHR6DINGER'S "CAT PARADOX" PAPER
John D. Trimmer2014
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72 citations · History and Philosophy of Science

Summary

1 Sample Definition And Size

This paper is a translation of Erwin Schrödinger’s three-part 1935 paper “Die gegenwärtige Situation in der Quantenmechanik” (“The Present Situation in Quantum Mechanics”), translated by John D. Trimmer. It is not an empirical study and does not involve a sample or sample size.

2 Study Type

This is a translation and exposition of a historical theoretical physics paper, not an original empirical or experimental study; it is a scholarly translation and commentary.

3 Conflicts Of Interest

The translator acknowledges support from Imperial Chemical Industries, London, for the leisure to write the article, but no conflicts of interest are declared.

4 Results Summary

The paper presents Schrödinger’s original theoretical discussion of quantum mechanics, including the cat paradox, entanglement, measurement theory, and the epistemological implications of the psi-function. It does not report quantitative results, statistics, or empirical findings.

Abstract

This is a translation of Schr6dinger's three-part 1935 paper 1 in Die Naturzkissenschaften. Earlier that same year there had appeared the Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen paper 2 (also famous in paradoxology) which, Schrodinger says, in a footnote, motivated his offering. Along with this article in German, Schrodinger had two closely related English-language publications.3 But the German, aside from its oneparagraph presentation of the famous cat, covers additional territory and gives many fascinating insights into Schrodinger's thought. The translator's goal has been to adhere to the logical and physical content of the original, while at the same time trying to convey something of its semi-conversational, at times slightly sardonic flavor.

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