# Schrödinger's cat of Light
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 6, 2018, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360 "2018-07-06T04:04:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/61 "2018-07-22T15:01:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Photons don’t interact with each other. Photons are how electrons interact with each other.
In magnetism where the Photon(LOL) is the carrier, what interacts?
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### Author:  [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/62 "2018-07-22T15:09:30Z")
We can go on like this forever, but why did you choose the PHOTON?
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### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/63 "2018-07-22T15:14:28Z")
> [@komolono](#):
>
> Why don’t magnetic waves burn you? Ok I may understand a part of your reasoning, but I have not heard of any magnetic field killing the Meissner’s frog. Have you? I doubt your knowledge is not quit there…
> Maybe I’m the Trumpet of this thread and you are the putamn…
Why do you expect magnetic fields should kill the frog? Light passing through glass doesn’t destroy the glass. Light passing through my hand doesn’t destroy my hand. (Have you ever tried covering a flashlight completely with your hand in a dark room? Or tried sticking it in your mouth?) Your conclusions do not follow from the premises you’re presenting, to the degree that it’s actually possible to extract your premises from your “stream-of-consciousness” posts.
Trumpet and putamn … yeah. I think my contribution ends here.
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### Author:  [@komolono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/komolono)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/64 "2018-07-22T15:26:11Z")
> [@naita](#):
>
> Why do you expect magnetic fields should kill the frog? Light passing through glass doesn’t destroy the glass. Light passing through my hand doesn’t destroy my hand. (Have you ever tried covering a flashlight completely with your hand in a dark room? Or tried sticking it in your mouth?) Your conclusions do not follow from the premises you’re presenting, to the degree that it’s actually possible to extract your premises from your “stream-of-consciousness” posts.
>
> Trumpet and putamn … yeah. I think my contribution ends here.
Do you remember Elon Musk - this is not close as it. But so far, thanks for your contribution.
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/65 "2018-07-22T16:15:06Z")
> [@komolono](#):
>
> In magnetism where the Photon(LOL) is the carrier, what interacts?
Charged particles interact with magnetic fields.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [July 22, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/66 "2018-07-22T18:07:19Z")
> [@komolono](#):
>
> Energy, speed and magnetic field just don’t add up here. But we have Chronos…
Bumper sticker.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/67 "2018-07-23T17:08:52Z")
> [@komolono](#):
>
> Energy, speed and magnetic field just don’t add up here. But we have Chronos. Burning sensationg vs. gravitional force. Now, I prefer mathematics.
What do you mean here?
If you like, read this wikipedia article on Maxwell’s equations ([Maxwell's equations - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_equations)):
> [@](#):
>
> Maxwell’s equations are a set of partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. The equations provide a mathematical model for electric, optical and radio technologies, such as power generation, electric motors, wireless communication, lenses, radar etc. Maxwell’s equations describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated by charges, currents, and changes of the fields.
If you read that, and understand what Maxwell showed with his theories, then you can start critiquing them. And know that people did find ways that these theories didn’t quite precisely match up with experimental results, and were found to be only an approximation. And so we have the funky world of quantum electrodynamics.
But still, take a look at that article, which is a better summation than an ad hoc explanation on a message board. If your eyes glaze over when you hit the equations (you’re not alone, mine do too), then congratulations, you’re like most people. However, to critique these equations you have to understand them first, right? You can’t just declare it’s all bullshit, because you don’t understand it, right?
1. First understand it
2. Then show why it’s wrong.
Number 1 is pretty hard. Like, years of work hard. Number 2 is gonna be even harder, so good luck with that.
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### Author:  [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/68 "2018-07-23T17:17:47Z")
> [@komolono](#):
>
> You may think that I know more of the subject - but sorry that is not the case. I don’t even have any background in Physics. I changed the end of the title from _Photon_ to _Light_, because I’m not sure if nuclear decay is due to photons. And I don’t belive that photons even exist - only waves.
Photons are a byproduct of nuclear decay. For example, when a proton and an anti-proton annihilate, two photons are released. Also, when merging two protons in a nucleus of deuterium to create a helium nucleus, photons are released. A photon is, in fact, an elementary particle and the quantum of the electromagnetic field.
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### Author:  [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/schrodingers-cat-of-light/817360/69 "2018-07-23T17:25:00Z")
> [@Jasmine](#):
>
> Photons are a byproduct of nuclear decay. For example, when a proton and an anti-proton annihilate, two photons are released. Also, when merging two protons in a nucleus of deuterium to create a helium nucleus, photons are released. A photon is, in fact, an elementary particle and the quantum of the electromagnetic field.
It is a bit more involved then that, and photons are actually what “touches” when two electrons approach each other, or when electrons fall to a lower energy level when orbiting a nucleus. They are also produced from black body radiation, which relates to the ultraviolet catastrophe that actually lead to the discovery of the quantum nature of light.
The photons that come from orbital decay are probably best thought as a result of those underlying changes in energy state than being a product of decay. Not that it is improper to think of them in that way when it fits a model you are working on.
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