Physicists push thousands of atoms to a 'Schrödinger's cat' state

Physicists have put nanoparticles of 7,000 sodium atoms into a Schrödinger's cat state. Researchers observed the nanoparticles acting as a cohesive wave. This sets a record for the most macroscopic object in a quantum state. The team produced a beam of sodium nanoparticles and aimed it at a narrow slit. The nanoparticles spread out to produce an interference pattern. This shows wave-particle duality. The results were published Jan. 21 in the journal Nature. Lead study author Sebastian Pedalino, a physicist at the University of Vienna, said quantum mechanics does not state any limits. That is what the team is testing. For two years the team saw only flat lines on the detector. The interference pattern finally appeared late at night. Measurements continued until 3 a.m. when they ran out of sodium. The nanoparticles reached a macroscopicity of 15.5. This beats the previous record by an order of magnitude. The discovery opens the door for future experiments with biological materials such as a virus or proteins.