Copenhagen interpretation
Main article: Copenhagen interpretation
In the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, a system stops being a superposition of states and becomes either one or the other when an
observation takes place. This experiment makes apparent the fact that the nature of
measurement, or observation, is not well defined in this interpretation. Some interpret the experiment to mean that while the box is closed, the system simultaneously exists in a superposition of the states "decayed nucleus/dead cat" and "undecayed nucleus/living cat", and that only when the box is opened and an observation performed does the
wave function collapse into one of the two states. More intuitively, some feel that the "observation" is taken when a particle from the nucleus hits the detector. This line of thinking can be developed into
Objective collapse theories. In contrast, the
many worlds approach denies that collapse ever occurs.
