Quantum process demonstrates superposition of ordered events

Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - 09:30 in Physics & Chemistry

(Phys.org)—In a quantum superposition, a quantum object can be in two incompatible states at the same time, which is famously illustrated by Schrödinger's dead-and-alive cat. Recent research has shown that it's possible to have a superposition not only of incompatible states, but also of incompatible orders of events. We often think of events occurring in a definite chronological order, with event A happening (and causing) event B, or vice versa. But in certain quantum processes, events don't happen in a single definite order, but instead both orders (A before B, and B before A) occur at the same time. This counterintuitive superposition-like phenomenon is called "causal nonseparability."

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