やさしい英語会話 (335) Schrödinger's Cat

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今月最後の話題は、量子力学の世界では有名な「シュレディンガーの猫」のお話です。英語でわかりやすく説明するのはなかなか難しいですが、頭の体操だと思って聞いてみましょう！

　

*** It's a Good Expression ***

（今回の重要表現）



breed

系統



science-thingy

科学っぽい



a bunch of

たくさんの



geeks

おたく



Oh, Lord!

まったく！



tormenting

人を苦しめるような



creepy

気味が悪い



bizarre

異様な



*** Script ***



Schrodinger's Cat



M: Hey Amy, have you ever heard of Schrodinger's Cat?



W: Ah, no, Sam. What is it? A new cat breed? I LOVE cats, by the way!



M: Ha ha! Schrodinger’s Cat is a well-known thought experiment suggested by a famous Austrian physicist named Erwin Schrodinger.



W: Erwin Schrodinger? Never heard of him. But this “Schrodinger’s Cat” experiment sounds very science-thingy to me. Go on.



M: OK. Let's say there's a cat inside an opaque box. That means you canNOT see inside the box.



W: Yes, an opaque box. So we do NOT know what’s happening inside.



M: Right. And also in the box is a flask containing deadly radioactive material. Of course, there is a radioactivity detector in the box as well.



W: Ah! What a poor cat! Sam, please don't kill our cute kitties!



M: Amy, this is a thought experiment! Not a real experiment! Anyway, there’s a 50% chance that the radioactivity will be detected by the machine. If the radioactivity is detected, the flask will be shattered, releasing the radiation. Of course, the cat will die.



W: No!! You "science people” are a bunch of geeks, killing poor animals!



M: Oh, Lord! Calm down! Let me finish the explanation. So... If we do NOT look in the box, there’s a 50% chance that the cat is alive or not. It’s in kind of a “zombie state.” Alive or dead? We don’t know. But if we DO look in the box, it’s either 100% alive or 100% dead.



W: Oh my god! Please stop! I don't want to hear something so tormenting anymore!



M: Amy, we're not killing the cat! Anyway, this shows how “observing something” changes the situation. That’s pretty unique, hey?



W: I don't want to talk to you anymore, Sam! All of you science people are creepy and bizarre! How can you treat a cat like that?



M: Oh boy...



(Written by Kyoung Jo)