Talk:Quantum superposition

"denote" or "note"

I'm not a native speaker, but I'm certain that this change that the IP @24.73.102.234: has been repeatedly inserting is wrong: diff4, diff3, diff2, diff1: The kets $|0\rangle$, $|1\rangle$ denote (not: note) particular solutions to the Schrödinger equation (cf. the third meaning here).
That IP has a certain track record of vandalism and reverted changes. I will restore the correct text once more. Objections can be raised and discussed here. --Qcomp (talk) 20:11, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

denote is correct; "note" would be insensible.

The path to banning vandals involved notifications with increasing levels. I issued a warning using Twinkle. Johnjbarton (talk) 00:08, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Are you kidding me?

The purpose of Wikipedia is to make informasjon and knowledge available for as many people as possible. How exactly does this article make the concept of superposition available for those with no background in physics? 2A01:799:2B1:EC00:656B:6511:5469:7352 (talk) 23:28, 25 March 2025 (UTC)

Actually Wikipedia purpose is slightly different:

Wikipedia's purpose is to benefit readers by acting as a widely accessible and free encyclopedia; a comprehensive written compendium that contains information on all branches of knowledge.

I don't believe there is any way to describe quantum superposition for someone with no background in physics. Superposition is a mathematical aspect of quantum theory, a topic only covered after a student of physics has several years of physics background. A simpler qualitative and non-mathematical explanation might be possible and if one has been published we could include a summary. Johnjbarton (talk) 02:35, 26 March 2025 (UTC)

Google Doodle

Heightened inbound traffic to be expected: fgnievinski (talk) 05:02, 14 April 2025 (UTC)

Sadly the linked site would make a poor source. It says: "The thaumatrope helps illustrate the concept of quantum superposition: when a particle exists in multiple states at once." There is of course no evidence that "particles exist in multiple states at once", whatever that could possibly mean. Johnjbarton (talk) 18:37, 14 April 2025 (UTC)

I requested temporary page protection. Johnjbarton (talk) 19:52, 14 April 2025 (UTC)

Dire need for better references

The section for experiments does not have a single decent reference (at least onewhich is accessible to me).

Ex: the reference for the piezoelectric tuninc fork basically states that the fork was .. put in a superposition and then started manifesting superposition. (-_-) 185.237.102.85 (talk) 20:12, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

The Experiments section has excellent sources. I think the overview statement at the beginning needs a secondary reference.

I replaced the bogus Scientific American ref with one to the primary sources. Some Scientific American articles are great, but this news sound bite was simply incorrect.

I wonder if your disappointment may be a consequence of unrealistic expectations for an experiment on superposition. Such an experiment would demonstrate a random result, one of each possible value in the superposition. The challenge is to demonstrate that the random results are quantum mechanical. Johnjbarton (talk) 20:57, 9 October 2025 (UTC)