A hypothetical cat that is depicted as being surrounded by perfectly uncertain circumstances that make an external observer absolutely unable to deem the cat either alive or dead, especially if the possibilities of survival of the cat are expected to be analysed from the point of view of quantum mechanics. Typically, these circumstances involve the cat being inside a box while being the victim of a danger that may or may not kill it, such as radiation.

The thought experiment which was devised by Erwin Schrödinger, is usually considered a paradox, involves a Schrödinger's cat and is typically supposed to be analysed from the point of view of quantum mechanics.

(informal, physics) Any of several experiments that show the paradoxical effects of quantum mechanics on a small scale, especially one that shows an atom to be in two places at the same time.

plural of Schrödinger equation

(physics) A function which is a solution of Schrödinger's wave equation; the psi function

(physics) A three-dimensional partial differential equation which determines the evolution of a quantum mechanical wave function

plural of Schrödinger wave function

the equation ̂H𝜓(⃑r)=E𝜓(⃑r), for some constant E; applies to separable solutions 𝛹(⃑r,t)=𝜓(⃑r)𝜙(t) to the Schrödinger equation