MINDSPORT ‘MUKUL SHARMA EIN UND ZWEISTEIN PaKa One problem in Quantum Mechanics (quan- tum mechanies: quit reading beeause [11 nol be talking meh sense fom hereto awhile) he jaradox of “Schroedinger's Ca. Simply. pil, 3 fats placed in an opaque, closed box. The box also contains a vial of poison and a teiphammer which fs activated by a totally random event sch as eadicactive decay. The experiment lasts Ull there i a fity-fity chance thatthe tripham- ‘mer will be releaged to break the val and kill the at. Question is, how do we find out if th eat is Aisad or alive? “Answer te, by opening tho box and looking in. Point is, before the observation {smade, is the eat deed or alive? And, whether tho act Hooking (a mearemens) ils or saves the cat? Heavy terminology like ‘collapse of the wave function’ ang junk s used forall this but the fact zomaine that unlil measuroment tho eat remains as a mathoriatical sum of a dead-cal anda livo-cat function, each with «probability of on> hull, Meaning, both irreconcilable propositions simultaneously co-exist in a superposition of slates, “Der Heregott wileelt nicht” said a horrified iostein when he heard all this, How could nature be $0 capricious as to allow one of two Dipolar states to rendomise out into reality? And, as if to spite him, Hugh Everett came aut with whet iscaled the ‘manyeworlds interprets- tion’ of quentum mechanies. in 1957. which again, cough y pul, states that al every moment Of tine tie superposition Uraucles oUt Into an infinite number of possiblities. But to be in at least two modes simultaneously is no great shakes ond anyone who can Tay Hands on a box of matches ean demonstrate i to themselves (Q Mechanix, come back: alls forgiven) You Will Need: 1) 32 matchsticks 2} quiclesotting glue 43) black poster paint 3) 10 minutos ‘the slicks together thus: and paint it black, Astute readers will of courso realise that what wo have hore is the classical case af the cube that reverses ditection—callod the Neckar cube after its discoverer. But see what happens with a 3D model, Hold the cube like so: aad close one eye. Shoulda take too log for the ene to invert in that artfiial 2.0 contig We it hageens veal, practise wats boa furs ope ie 3D. Thal be amie fe minute maybe, Once vou gat tho hang of Insel steconeopeall, do his sowie rotate your hand tothe righ the cube il rolate to the left Your brain will rotate in dix curled up dimensions, FoRUM Staid-Captals Dept Dear Ms Pea eaeeeal ae eerie ee ur tseg Ui cecata eine Wesco Hdd ddd it see ingles than capital Tellers; T began inking about i, Days pessody then weeks then months: Nobreskthrough decided Hiatt tinting sbout and retiraod the mote mundane afar of lis Now,a couple nv Hack {gt into a bahtuy ad ever so ae et ace oe Frappe A Balloon wth appeared overmy head andthe next noren {Gund me runotognekad thro th crow bound streets of Srinagar shouting, “Labum 1 ote at henna an) (Hopsyou know because got AIS). Th SpE fongot 10. shoovat sight and. instead Peat a Anny. her lsaprosnae ly what I found. svED ANWAR “OWats What you soe above ea (correct) alton sum in teal te mumnger om 010 9 fave ben placed by alphabet is dong in such away that each alghbet stands for one only one number (eg all the three As ftand for the same number) the prblem iso find out wat he wote gum: ot tho ent (lata hoch) Let's see your ends Wheaten two sotons~eouhd a alleen eal Ges mi Sree 5 Your caluan fe Ube bat thing that has happened to nda since Asbeka converted (o Buddhism, (And the Bodhtdarna took 1 ny fo Chino), ‘One-tonne-Mera-Dept Dear MS, ott problem 34S a hen) Tt rout tt gues In ule fr So fants tie | pial Gneties os Fey tench nen etn Which weighs heavier, fonne of od ora tonne of en (it they dont weigh he ‘burl Krishna, Vishebheptoan Rat-A-Tat-Cat-Dept Doar Sri Mukuti T have a poser for you The problem is of als enclosure as in the diagram, cats in an A number of rats go from hole A towards B,C and D and finally try to go backto.A. Each cat {a.b.c€d) killsan equal number of rats process they are doubled, tipled and quadru- pled at Noles 3, C and 1 respectively and Finally there are none lat to go back to A, ‘Asin the diageam, a numberof rats proceed from A to goto but are partly killed by cata: the remaining go to B sshere thelr number is doubled. This group now proceeds from f where on the way cat b kills an equal unt, At G the mumber of rats i tiple. The process continues until a quadpled number of remaining rats try to make i fo \ bbutare all Killed by eat dl sho naturally has to Kill the same amount as eats a,b and c. The question is (1) how many rats started from A find (2) how many rats each cat killed. Yours sincere. SoA Sastry, Haroda ENDGAME With three super problems like that do we a (Something something something about a need a fourth? (2 THERLUSTRATIOWEERY OF NOM SPTEMEER2S tak