Schrödinger’s cat meets Qiskit: Why do we never see cats that are both dead and alive?

By Maria Violaris, PhD student at the University of OxfordCan a cat be dead and alive at the same time? In 1935, quantum physicist Erwin Schrödinger came up with a thought experiment showing that, according to quantum mechanics, a cat can exist in a superposition of being alive and dead. Schrödinger’s aim was to demonstrate the absurdity of quantum mechanics. In everyday life, we never see cats that are simultaneously alive and dead — indeed, we never see any large object in a state of quantum s