Flash Fiction Challenge for October/November

It started as a harmless idea, an abstract concept. Of course that was before they realised the full implications of what they planned to do.

     Wolfram had started it over coffee in the canteen one lunchtime. They were chatting about the implications of quantum physics – as you do – when Wolfie said.’ Why is it it that most scientists are happy to ignore the one problem with the most accurate theory in all science, the fact that it requires an observer to collapse the wave function so that a particle’s position can be measured? Everyone is happy to use the maths of quantum physics because they work so well, what everyone calls the shut up and calculate method but isn’t it time someone sorted this out and why shouldn’t it be us?’

Galena put down her doughnut and looked at him over the rim of her paper coffee cup. ‘What’s wrong with leaving it as it is, everybody seems happy with it and it works so why change it? Anyway we don’t have any of the equipment that we would need to do the experiments.’

     ‘If every scientists had taken that attitude, we would still be living in caves,’ said Wolfram, ‘ and what ever happened to scientific curiosity and the need to find out?’

     ‘Oh, stop arguing you two,’ said Olivine crossly, ‘let’s just get on and do it. Where do you suggest we start Wolfie?’

     ‘Well, as Galena kindly reminded us, we don’t have any equipment or money to buy any so I think all the work will have to be done by thought experiments. If it was good enough for Schrödinger and Einstein then it should be good enough for us.’

     ‘You forget that they were clever people and we have only got you,’ said Galena

     ‘Yes, and think how lucky you are to have me.’ said Wolfram.

     ‘Come on. Let’s stop sniping at each other and get on with it,’ said Olivine, ever the peacemaker. ‘ Do you think we should fetch Tourmaline and ask her if she would like to join in and help us?’

     ‘Yes, I think that is a great idea,’ said Wolfram

     ‘Well, you would of course, you have been lusting after her since she started here,’ said Galena who had a bit of thing for Wolfie and didn’t like the thought of Tourmaline muscling in on her territory. Wolfram coloured a little but said nothing, he didn’t want Tourmaline to know how he felt. Tourmaline, of course, knew exactly how Wolfram felt and was just biding her time until Galena was out of the way. She knew very well that fixing her startling green eyes on him in a full stare just made him melt and become incapable of rational thought.

     ‘OK then,’ said Galena. ‘Lets start here at the same time tomorrow. I’ll let Tourmaline know.’

     ‘Where do we start?’ asked Tourmaline, directing her searchlight stare at Wolfram.

     ‘Well, err, I think, we should start with the most famous thought experiment of all, Schrödinger’s cat.’

     ‘That sounds good to me,’ said Galena, anxious to get on Wolfram’s good side now that her rival for his affections was here. ‘Why don’t you go ahead and describe it for us, set the scene as it were?’

‘Creep,’ thought Tourmaline who knew exactly what Galena was up to. ‘Yes, that’s quite a good idea, luv.’ She said patronisingly as if surprised that someone with Galena’s limited intelligence could think of such a complicated concept. She said it with the Australian questioning lift at the end of the sentence which emphasised her incredulity.

     ‘OK then. A cat is placed in a wooden box. In  the box there is a gadget that fires a single photon at a filter. There is a 50% chance of the photon passing through the filter. If it does then a phial of poisonous liquid is broken and kills the cat. This means that, before the box is opened the cat can be in one of three quantum states:- alive, dead or both alive and dead. Once the box is opened the wave function collapses and the cat instantly snaps into one of the two possible classic states, alive or dead. The question is, when does the cat change from being in one of the three quantum states to being in one of the two classic states? What trigger is required to change it between quantum and classic states? All experiments so far show that an observer or measurement is required but does this agency have to be human?’

     ‘Well summarised Wolfie,’ said Tourmaline, determined to get her flattery in before Galena. ‘Where do we go from here?’

     ‘Why not try to split the human and non human possible cause of the collapse along the time axis and then we can record what happened when’ said Olivine who was the most original thinker of the group.

     ‘And just how do we manage that?’ asked Galena sarcastically. She had long been jealous of Olivine’s seemingly effortless thinking.

     ‘We need to record the event so why not put a camera in the box that is triggered by the same photon result that breaks the poison phial. This will then show what state the cat is in before the box is opened. If the photo shows the cat is dead then a non human agency can collapse the wave function and trigger the change from a quantum to classic state. If the experiment is repeated many times and the photo shows that the cat is always alive then it requires a human agency to force the change.’

     As soon as Olivine finished speaking, there was a flash and they all fell to the floor of the canteen, dead.

Someone else was doing the same experiment and they were the cats this time.