No qualms about quantum theory (Vol. 45 No. 1)

‘Schrödinger’s cat state associated with an imagined superposition of a dead and live cat has no reality.’

The alleged shortcomings of quantum theory do not hold up to scrutiny. A colloquium paper peers into the alleged issues associated with quantum theory. The author reviews a selection of the potential problems of the theory. He sets out to demystify a selected set of objections targeted against quantum theory in the literature. He takes the example of Schrödinger’s infamous cat. The term ‘Schrödinger’s cat state’ is routinely applied to superposition of so-called quantum states of a particle. However, this imagined superposition of a dead and live cat has no reality. Indeed, it confuses a physical object with its description. Other myths debunked in this paper include the provision of proof that quantum theory is well defined, has a clear interpretation, is a local theory, is not reversible, and does not feature any instant action at a distance. It also demonstrates that there is no measurement problem, despite the fact that the measure is commonly known to disturb the system under measurement.

B.G. Englert, ‘On Quantum Theory’, Eur. Phys. J. D, 67, 238 (2013)
[Abstract]