It’s common for many people to question if our universe is the only one in existence. Is there another universe inaccessible due to hypothetical obstacles? Well, of course, the answer is: we don’t know. We will never truly know unless there’s a magical breakthrough in quantum mechanics, which is practically impossible given the restrictions of funding and delayed technological advancements.

But let’s put realism aside and have some fun with hypotheticals and quantum theory; first, however, we need to understand what “excited” and “unexcited” atoms are.

An excited atom is an atom with more energy than its ground state (an atom with the absolute minimum energy). This energy can be transferred by electricity, light, or heat. So, when giving an unexcited atom energy, it’ll turn excited and hold the energy. This atom can release its energy usually by electrons via light emissions. 

Now that we understand excited atoms, an atom can be excited and unexcited at the same time. This kind of behavior is called a quantum superposition. 

When an atom is unobserved, quantum superposition occurs. When there’s a superposition, an atom can be in two positions at the same time and can be both excited and unexcited; however, when the atom is eventually observed, the atom randomly picks its state, thus making the atom have a singular position and energy value. 

Chances are you clicked on this article because of the strange title. How can a cat create alternative universes? Erwin Schrödinger, a physicist who developed the fundamentals to quantum theory, created the Schrödinger’s cat, a thought experiment regarding quantum superposition theorem. 

Imagine a cat in an unobserved box. The box has a flask of poison, a Geiger counter, and a small portion of a radioactive substance. The Geiger counter is included because, according to superposition, an atom can decay and not decay at the same time. If the Geiger counter is triggered by scanning a decayed atom, the poison flask will break, thus killing the cat.

Since we’re assuming that the cat is unobserved in this box, and quantum superpositioning is a part of the equation, the cat would be both alive and dead at the same time until the box is opened.

One of the many interpretations of this experiment is that the universe splits itself into two: one universe where the cat is alive and one where the cat is dead. If this was the result of the experiment, every single atom that participated in superposition in the universe would create two separate universes where, upon being observed, it values one or the other’s position and energy value.

Meaning, if this interpretation is to be true, there will be an infinite amount of universes with the slightest of changes, and these changes can range from a singular atom to the survivability of trillions of galaxies (depending on the significance of the superposition in question).

Students of Carolina Forest High Schools tend to agree with this possibility.

“I like to think there is [an alternate universe],” says CFHS Senior Bryson Stanley, “It’d be fascinating to… understand the beings in those universes better. I want to see if our representations of them are accurate.”

“I think it’s fun to think about,” a CFHS senior added, who asked to remain anonymous.   “So, yeah, alternative universes should be real.”

What is your opinion? Do you think there are other universes out there?

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