Why can't large objects be in two places at once? ⚡ экспресс
Scientists have shown that macroscopic superpositions of mass (states where an object seems to be in several places at once) face resistance from the geometry of spacetime. When this state is modeled as 'Schrödinger's cat', a dip in the total energy of the system appears when trying to separate the superposition's components. This energy dip creates a force that hinders the formation of the superposition. Just as a stretched rubber sheet is reluctant to take on a shape with two far-apart dimples, gravity seems to set a limit on quantum uncertainty at large scales. This could shed light on the measurement problem in quantum mechanics.
Schrödinger's cat, according to quantum rules, can be both alive and dead at once. But a table can't pull that off. When a massive object tries to be in two places, its mass curves spacetime so drastically that instead of two points, a single deep depression forms—and the object rolls into it. It's like a heavy boulder on a mountain ridge: the faintest breeze, and it falls into a single valley.
For atoms, such curvature is negligible, but for large bodies it's an insurmountable obstacle. Most surprising: the farther apart you try to separate the copies of the object, the deeper the well becomes.
This mechanism is strongest near black holes with their monstrous curvature and somewhat resembles gravitational waves, except here the energy goes into breaking the superposition. Perhaps gravity constantly 'observes' the world, preventing large objects from being in two places—an idea Roger Penrose worked on.
🎯 Even a speck of dust weighing a millionth of a gram loses its ability to be in two places faster than you can sneeze.
🎬 In Greg Egan's novel 'Quarantine', quantum states control consciousness, but gravity sets a hard limit on such fantasies.