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In 2014, Tobias Denkmayr and his colleagues split a stream of neutrons into two beams and conducted a series of measurements. It turned out that in certain circumstances, neutrons can be on one path, and their magnetic moment on another.

This proved the quantum paradox dubbed the “Cheshire Cat’s smile,” which is when particles and their properties can be perceived as being located in different areas of space, like the smile separated from the cat in Alice in Wonderland.

The 10 weirdest quantum physics facts

1. Wave function collapse
2. Heisenberg uncertainty principle
3. Meissner effect
4. Superfluidity
5. Quantum tunneling
6. Quantum entanglement
7. Quantum Zeno effect
8. Delayed choice quantum eraser
9. Quantum superposition
10. Quantum Cheshire Cat

From
The Phase. Shattering the Illusion of Reality
by Michael Raduga

(Download free old version (2011) OR buy the newest one (2015) on Amazon)

In 2010, Aaron O’Connell placed a small piece of metal in an opaque vacuum chamber that he cooled to nearly absolute zero. He then sent a pulse of energy to the metal so that it would vibrate. However, the position sensor indicated that the metal was both vibrating a little and still at the same time. This was the first time superposition had been observed in a macroscopic object.

In isolation, when there is no interaction among quantum systems, an object can simultaneously be in an unlimited number of possible positions, as if it were no longer material.

The 10 weirdest quantum physics facts

1. Wave function collapse
2. Heisenberg uncertainty principle
3. Meissner effect
4. Superfluidity
5. Quantum tunneling
6. Quantum entanglement
7. Quantum Zeno effect
8. Delayed choice quantum eraser
9. Quantum superposition
10. Quantum Cheshire Cat

From
The Phase. Shattering the Illusion of Reality
by Michael Raduga

(Download free old version (2011) OR buy the newest one (2015) on Amazon)

In 1999, a group of scientists led by Marlan Scully sent photons through two slits, behind which there was a prism that converted each outgoing photon into a pair of quantum-entangled photons and split them into two paths. The first path sent photons to the main detector. The second path sent photons to a complicated system of reflectors and detectors.

It turned out that if a photon from the second path reached detectors determining which slit it had flown through, then the primary detector would register its paired photon as a particle. But if the photon from the second path reached detectors that didn’t determine which slit it had flown out of, then the main detector would register its paired photon as a wave. Measuring one photon affect its twin, regardless of distance and time, as the secondary system of detectors registered photons after the main one had. It’s as if the future determined the past.

The 10 weirdest quantum physics facts

1. Wave function collapse
2. Heisenberg uncertainty principle
3. Meissner effect
4. Superfluidity
5. Quantum tunneling
6. Quantum entanglement
7. Quantum Zeno effect
8. Delayed choice quantum eraser
9. Quantum superposition
10. Quantum Cheshire Cat

From
The Phase. Shattering the Illusion of Reality
by Michael Raduga

(Download free old version (2011) OR buy the newest one (2015) on Amazon)

In 1989, a group of scientists led by David Wineland observed the speed at which beryllium ions transitioned between atomic levels. It turned out that the very act of measuring the state of the ions slowed their transition between states. At the beginning of the 21st century, a 30x slowdown was achieved in a similar experiment with rubidium atoms.

This all confirms the Quantum Zeno effect, which states that the mere act of measuring the state of an unstable particle slows its rate of decay, and could theoretically halt it.

The 10 weirdest quantum physics facts

1. Wave function collapse
2. Heisenberg uncertainty principle
3. Meissner effect
4. Superfluidity
5. Quantum tunneling
6. Quantum entanglement
7. Quantum Zeno effect
8. Delayed choice quantum eraser
9. Quantum superposition
10. Quantum Cheshire Cat

From
The Phase. Shattering the Illusion of Reality
by Michael Raduga

(Download free old version (2011) OR buy the newest one (2015) on Amazon)

In 1982, Alain Aspect sent two simultaneously created photons to opposite-direction spin (polarization) detectors. It turned out that measuring the spin of one photon instantly affects that of the other photon, which will be the opposite. This proved the possibility of the quantum entanglement of elementary particles and quantum teleportation. In 2008, scientists were able to measure the state of quantum-entangled photons at a distance of about 90 miles, and interaction between them was still instantaneous, as if they were at the same place or there was no distance.

The 10 weirdest quantum physics facts

1. Wave function collapse
2. Heisenberg uncertainty principle
3. Meissner effect
4. Superfluidity
5. Quantum tunneling
6. Quantum entanglement
7. Quantum Zeno effect
8. Delayed choice quantum eraser
9. Quantum superposition
10. Quantum Cheshire Cat

From
The Phase. Shattering the Illusion of Reality
by Michael Raduga

(Download free old version (2011) OR buy the newest one (2015) on Amazon)

It is believed that if such quantum-entangled photons appear at opposite ends of the Universe, then interaction between them will still be instantaneous, even though it would take tens of billions of years to cover that distance at the speed of light.