What does the term superposition refer to?

A vibrating rope tied at one end will produce a standing wave, as shown in the figure; the B), after arriving at the fixed end of the rope, will be reflected back and superimposed on itself as another train of waves (line C) in the same plane. Because of interference between the two waves, the resultant amplitude ( R) of the two waves will be the sum of their individual B and C coinciding so that standing wave R has twice their amplitude. In part II, 1/ 8 period later, B and C have each shifted 1/ 8 1/ 8 period still later, when the amplitudes of the component waves B and C are oppositely directed. At all times there are positions ( N) along the rope, called A). The antinodes R. Both longitudinal (e.g., sound) waves and transverse (e.g., water) waves can form standing waves.

\( \newcommand\) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • A Challenge to Schrödinger De Broglie’s doctoral thesis, defended at the end of 1924, created a lot of excitement in European physics circles. Shortly after it was published in the fall of 1925 Pieter Debye, a theorist in Zurich, suggested to Erwin Schrödinger that he give a seminar on de Broglie’s work. Schrödinger gave a polished presentation, but at the end Debye remarked that he considered the whole theory rather childish: why should a wave confine itself to a circle in space? It wasn’t as if the circle was a waving circular string, real waves in space diffracted and diffused, in fact they obeyed three-dimensional wave equations, and that was what was needed. This was a direct challenge to Schrödinger, who spent some weeks in the Swiss mountains working on the problem, and constructing his equation. There is no rigorous derivation of Schrödinger’s equation from previously established theory, but it can be made very plausible by thinking about the connection between light waves and photons, and construction an analogous structure for de Broglie’s waves and electrons (and, later, other particles). Maxwell’s Wave Equation Let us examine what Maxwell’s equations tell us about the motion of the simplest type of electromagnetic wave—a monochromatic wave in empty space, with no currents or charges present. As we discussed in the last lecture, Maxwell found the wave equation \[ \nabla^2 \vec E -\frac \] This is just t...

Look up Superposition may refer to: Science and mathematics [ ] • • • • • Superposition of • • • In chemistry, a property of two structures that have the same • In Euclidean geometry, the principle of superposition is a • The Music and art [ ] • " Mirror Master • "Superposition", a song by Daniel Caesar from the 2019 album • In music theory, " See also [ ] • • •

Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. For more information, please see our • Animals and Pets • Anime • Art • Cars and Motor Vehicles • Crafts and DIY • Culture, Race, and Ethnicity • Ethics and Philosophy • Fashion • Food and Drink • History • Hobbies • Law • Learning and Education • Military • Movies • Music • Place • Podcasts and Streamers • Politics • Programming • Reading, Writing, and Literature • Religion and Spirituality • Science • Tabletop Games • Technology • Travel • When we talk about superposition, do we mean that the particle is in multiple states at the same time or do we mean that the state is defined but we don't know it until we measure it? For eg if i place two balls of different colors in a box, blindfold myself and then pick one. The color of the ball is already defined i just don't know it until I measure it by removing the blindfold. Is this similar to superposition?

• There is only one coherent state: $$|\alpha\rangle=e^|n\rangle $$ • Also, a pure state does not mean a coherent state. But what does one mean when they talk about a coherent superposition of ground and excited state: $$c\left|g\right> + d \left|e\right>.$$ Drawing on the bloch sphere, it is on the surface, but so does just being a superposition. But what does one mean and what does it imply? I also see a Phys.SE post: The word "coherent" is used in Physics in a rather sloppy way. Your first state is a linear combination of harmonic oscillator eigenvectors that turns into a gaussian in momentum/position representations. In a more general background, a coherent state is just a state where coherences (off-diagonal terms in the density matrix) are non-zero, which means the state can skipp from one stationary state to another. Now, a coherent superposition is quite like a coherent state: a superposition is said to be coherent if there's an observable that, if applied to one state, can turn it into another also present in the superposition. As an example, consider the $z$-axis spin up and spin down states of the electron in a Stern-Gerlach experiment. Then there is one spin operator, namely $S_x$, that can turn one into the other. This means they form a coherent superposition. As a counter-example consider the ground and the first excited states of the harmonic oscillator: the creation operator can turn the former into the latter, but this operator is not an observable. The su...

Look up Superposition may refer to: Science and mathematics [ ] • • • • • Superposition of • • • In chemistry, a property of two structures that have the same • In Euclidean geometry, the principle of superposition is a • The Music and art [ ] • " Mirror Master • "Superposition", a song by Daniel Caesar from the 2019 album • In music theory, " See also [ ] • • •

A vibrating rope tied at one end will produce a standing wave, as shown in the figure; the B), after arriving at the fixed end of the rope, will be reflected back and superimposed on itself as another train of waves (line C) in the same plane. Because of interference between the two waves, the resultant amplitude ( R) of the two waves will be the sum of their individual B and C coinciding so that standing wave R has twice their amplitude. In part II, 1/ 8 period later, B and C have each shifted 1/ 8 1/ 8 period still later, when the amplitudes of the component waves B and C are oppositely directed. At all times there are positions ( N) along the rope, called A). The antinodes R. Both longitudinal (e.g., sound) waves and transverse (e.g., water) waves can form standing waves.

• There is only one coherent state: $$|\alpha\rangle=e^|n\rangle $$ • Also, a pure state does not mean a coherent state. But what does one mean when they talk about a coherent superposition of ground and excited state: $$c\left|g\right> + d \left|e\right>.$$ Drawing on the bloch sphere, it is on the surface, but so does just being a superposition. But what does one mean and what does it imply? I also see a Phys.SE post: The word "coherent" is used in Physics in a rather sloppy way. Your first state is a linear combination of harmonic oscillator eigenvectors that turns into a gaussian in momentum/position representations. In a more general background, a coherent state is just a state where coherences (off-diagonal terms in the density matrix) are non-zero, which means the state can skipp from one stationary state to another. Now, a coherent superposition is quite like a coherent state: a superposition is said to be coherent if there's an observable that, if applied to one state, can turn it into another also present in the superposition. As an example, consider the $z$-axis spin up and spin down states of the electron in a Stern-Gerlach experiment. Then there is one spin operator, namely $S_x$, that can turn one into the other. This means they form a coherent superposition. As a counter-example consider the ground and the first excited states of the harmonic oscillator: the creation operator can turn the former into the latter, but this operator is not an observable. The su...

When we talk about superposition, do we mean that the particle is in multiple states at the same time or do we mean that the state is defined but we don't know it until we measure it? For eg if i place two balls of different colors in a box, blindfold myself and then pick one. The color of the ball is already defined i just don't know it until I measure it by removing the blindfold. Is this similar to superposition?

\( \newcommand\) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • A Challenge to Schrödinger De Broglie’s doctoral thesis, defended at the end of 1924, created a lot of excitement in European physics circles. Shortly after it was published in the fall of 1925 Pieter Debye, a theorist in Zurich, suggested to Erwin Schrödinger that he give a seminar on de Broglie’s work. Schrödinger gave a polished presentation, but at the end Debye remarked that he considered the whole theory rather childish: why should a wave confine itself to a circle in space? It wasn’t as if the circle was a waving circular string, real waves in space diffracted and diffused, in fact they obeyed three-dimensional wave equations, and that was what was needed. This was a direct challenge to Schrödinger, who spent some weeks in the Swiss mountains working on the problem, and constructing his equation. There is no rigorous derivation of Schrödinger’s equation from previously established theory, but it can be made very plausible by thinking about the connection between light waves and photons, and construction an analogous structure for de Broglie’s waves and electrons (and, later, other particles). Maxwell’s Wave Equation Let us examine what Maxwell’s equations tell us about the motion of the simplest type of electromagnetic wave—a monochromatic wave in empty space, with no currents or charges present. As we discussed in the last lecture, Maxwell found the wave equation \[ \nabla^2 \vec E -\frac \] This is just t...