Charles Darwin would have been proud. His ideas on natural selection are being used to resolve one of the deepest questions in quantum mechanics: how does an objective reality emerge from the quantum world?
In quantum mechanics, particles exist in so-called superposition states, in which they have many mutually contradictory properties. It’s only when an observer measures the properties that the particle somehow settles into one of these multiple options. “Quantum mechanics is a beautiful theory, but it’s a pain in the neck when you’re trying to reconcile it with what you see around you,” says Robin Blume-Kohout at the…
