Kiran Dhanwada » Heisenberg http://kirandhanwada.com Incoherent. Discontinuous. Paradox. Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:33:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Quantum Relationships http://kirandhanwada.com/2009/06/01/quantum-relationships/ http://kirandhanwada.com/2009/06/01/quantum-relationships/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:35:26 +0000 Kiran http://kirandhanwada.com/?p=253 I was talking to my friend the other day when he mentioned that he was in a ‘proxy relationship’. On enquiring further on this inter-galactic phrase, he explained that he didn’t know whether ‘he was in love’ or ‘he was just friends’ with this girl [which actually meant that he is interested but is shit scared that the girl might say 'Oh, but we are just good friends']. Obviously, till date, he never asked the girl how she felt. As I was thinking about this relationship and many other relationships I have seen go down this path in the past, I was reminded of Quantum Mechanics. Yeah, quantum mechanics! Let me explain.

1) The relationship that my friend quotes is not in a single state. It is a combination of multiple states. If the probability of ‘I am in love’ in p, then the probability of ‘I am just friends with that girl’ is (1-p). The relationship that my friend states is obviously a combination of the two states, p and (1-p). The dilemma of my friend is obvious that he doesn’t know what the value of p is. All he knows is 0<p<1. This state is called the quantum state (yes, you can quote Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Feynman et.al here).

2) The problem is exacerbated by my friend not wanting to disturb the quantum state by measuring it. The only way to measure is asking the girl. What happens if the girl also thinks that the relationship is in a quantum state? Assuming a generic scenario that all girls are sensible, we might have to ignore this possibility lest the equation becomes too complex. The crux of quantum theory kicks in at measurement – the moment you measure this relationship and assuming the girl is sensible, the quantum state comes crashing down and settles into a steady state of either ‘romance’ or ‘friends’ – just like quantum mechanics (determine position, velocity is impossible to calculate etc.)

3) Extending the concept personally – If I see a hot and/or pretty girl at work or at a party or as a school friend or anywhere else (wink), two thoughts cross my mind. Should I pursue her with all my heart or should I just assume that I am too late in the game and she is already taken and has a boyfriend already? Or should it be just a stone in the dark kindaa situation (throw a stone in the dark – if it hits something you are lucky, else, you have just lost a stone)? Obviously the quantum state arises due to the superimposition of two states – probability of winning her (p) and probability of she having a boyfriend already (1-p). Asking her, would bring down the quantum state crashing down. Pursuing her with all the heart and getting turned down increases the costs dramatically and not trying at all would just not be me. On the other hand, asking a girl upfront “whether it is ok to consider her romantically, need to think about it” would just end up as a slap on my face. The superimposition of states continues.

Ah, life’s a mess! :)

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