Schrodinger's Gat (7 page)

“
Which means what, exactly?”

“
You know how quantum mechanics allows a particle to be in two different places at the same time? Well, imagine a computer that can try out two different solutions to a mathematical problem simultaneously, by being in two different states at the same time. And if you can have a computer that’s in two states simultaneously, there’s no reason it couldn’t be in four, or eight, or a thousand. You could theoretically increase a computer’s power infinitely simply by putting it into a state of quantum indeterminacy.”

“
And how do you do that?”

“
Well, you have to put it in a state of complete isolation from the rest of the universe, so that it can’t be observed or interacted with in any way. That’s easy enough to do with a few atoms, if you’ve got the right equipment, but assembling those atoms into something like a computing machine and getting them to do any actual computing before they decohere – that is, before they drop out of a state of indeterminacy – is, well, problematic.”

“
I can imagine,” I say. I can’t, of course. I’m starting to think he’s making this up as he goes along.

“
There are people experimenting with quantum computers right now, but there are some problems with the idea that may be intractable. I suspect that the solution – if there is a solution – will be to create a sort of an interface module that connects a classical computer with a quantum computer. You’d have to sever the connection while the quantum computer is working, of course, or it wouldn’t be properly isolated. But when the quantum computer finds a solution, it could re-establish contact with the classical computer and Bob’s your uncle.”

My head hurts.
For all Heller’s initial reluctance to talk, he seems downright eager to spill everything now. It’s like he’s been holding it in for years and he’s overcome with relief at his chance to finally talk to somebody about it. But I don’t want to know the history of quantum physics; I just want to know where Tali is. I interject, “What does any of this have to do with what Tali and you are doing?”

“
Excellent question,” he answers without even a momentary pause. “You know what the most powerful computer in the world is? The human brain. It’s lousy at low-level deterministic stuff, but the human brain is capable of making decisions in a matter of seconds that would tie up a super-computer for hours. And yet the human brain is a biochemical system that seems at first glance to run much more slowly than the typical silicon-based computer. How is this possible? Well, clearly the human brain is a qualitatively different sort of computer. One theory is that the human brain is a quantum computer, and therefore able to be in multiple quantum states simultaneously. The quantum brain is assigned problems to solve by the classical component of the brain. When the quantum brain comes up with a solution (or solutions, as the case may be), it reports back to the classical brain. You see, the human brain has somehow evolved to take advantage of quantum indeterminacy in order to work faster than would normally be possible.”

“
I still don’t …”

“
Almost there,” he says. “So the question is, what happens to this other part of your brain, the quantum part, when you die? Well, presumably it dies as well – falls apart, ceases to be an ordered system, in compliance with the second law of thermodynamics. But we know already that the quantum brain has to be able to work independently, because in its calculating state, it’s completely isolated from the rest of the universe. So what happens if your brain in this dimension is destroyed so suddenly that it’s unable to ‘power down’ the quantum part of your brain? What if, in fact, your brain sends out a last-minute ‘distress signal’ to the quantum brain, desperately trying to solve some sort of existential threat it is facing? Every available bit of energy is sent from your brain in this dimension to the quantum brain, in an attempt to solve the problem – but then the connection is permanently severed. What then?”

I think I see where he’s going.
“The quantum brain continues to exist for a while, still trying to work out that last problem.”

“
Exactly! So what the psionic field detector does is to detect the disturbances in the psionic field made by quantum brains in that condition.”

“
I don’t recall learning about psionic fields in my high school physics class,” I reply.

“
That’s because most physicists don’t acknowledge their existence. A number of studies have been done indicating that the human brain can remotely influence physical objects. We refer to the medium of this influence as the psionic field.”

“
You’re talking about telekinesis.”

“
Yes, but on a very, very small scale. We’re talking about a person being able to slightly alter the expected statistical behavior of a sampling of subatomic particles, not being able to bend a spoon. The point is that the effect, although tiny, is real and detectable. It also occurs largely at the unconscious level. That’s part of the reason it’s so difficult to detect. Your conscious brain works almost entirely at the classical, not the quantum, level. Have you ever had the experience of spending hours trying to work out a particularly difficult problem only to have the answer pop into your head later, when you weren’t even consciously thinking about it?”

“
So you’re saying that if I want to bend a spoon, I should give the job to my unconscious.”

“
You’re better off doing it with your fingers,” says Heller. “Your unconscious is unlikely to cooperate because it probably has better things to do. Anyway, that’s the problem with studies of psychokinesis, or telekinesis as it’s popularly known. They start by telling the subject, ‘Do
X
with your mind.’ So the subject tries to do
X
, but their subconscious is thinking about the shoes they’re going to buy with the money they got for doing the study. The psionic field detectors work the other way around. They look for disturbances in the statistical distribution of events on a quantum level and then try to locate the mind associated with the disturbance. The disturbances are faint, though, and there’s a lot of noise, so at this point we can only detect a pattern when several quantum brains in close proximity experience what we call a ‘catastrophic neural shutdown’ nearly simultaneously.”

“
Like if there’s a mass shooting on Pier 39.”

“
Precisely.”

“
I still don’t understand how you can detect these disturbances before the event happens.”

“
Ah,” he says, nodding. “That has to do with probabilistic futures. You see, there isn’t just one future; there’s an infinite range of possible futures, some more probable than others. All of these futures ‘exist,’ in a sense, but some are much more probable than others. The disturbances from the quantum brains extend a ways into spacetime, both forward and backward. The more probable the outcome, the stronger the impression is. So a violent death that is very likely to happen leaves a stronger impression than a less likely one. The overall strength of the impression is a function of how many people are involved, how probable the event is, and its proximity to the detector in spacetime.”

“
And by ‘detector,’ you mean this doodad,” I say, indicating the doodad.

“
Yes. They’re WiFi enabled, so all the data they gather can be uploaded to a central server. That box right over there.” He points at an ordinary looking tower computer.

I can
’t help but laugh.

“
I know,” he says, grinning. “Being a mad scientist ain’t what it used to be.”

“
So how much advance notice do you get? Tali almost got us killed driving from San Leandro to Embarcadero, but I wasn’t sure if that was because she didn’t get much notice or because she missed her first appointment … oh, shit.”

I pull my phone from my pocket. It
’s almost four p.m. I promised Deb I’d pick up the kids from soccer practice. I wasn’t that concerned about it when I thought I was going to be dead by now; figured that she’d make alternate arrangements. Death has its drawbacks, but it’s a pretty good excuse for missing appointments.

“
I’ve got to go,” I say, “or my probable near future is going to get very unpleasant. Have you got a pen and paper?”

He directs me to a notepad on the workbench. I scribble on it.
“That’s my cell number. Please call me if you hear from Tali.” He nods. He doesn’t offer me a number and I don’t press him. “I still have some questions for you. Is it all right if I come back tomorrow? Say around two p.m.?”

“
I’ll be here,” he says. He seems almost happy to hear that I intend to come back.

“
Thanks for your hospitality, Dr. Heller. I’ll see myself out.” I shake his hand and leave, running back to my car. There’s no way I’m making it to San Leandro by four fifteen, but with a little luck I might be only fifteen minutes or so late.

Luck is not on my side today. I
’m half an hour late, and the kids are pissed. They get in the car and slam the doors. Neither of them will talk to me. Just as well. I never know what to say to them. Meet my kids, ladies and gentlemen. Martin, ten and Sylvia, eight. They get A’s and B’s in school, have never been arrested, and are above average at
Call of Duty
on XBox.

I drop the kids off and head home. I force myself to do some more unpacking. If I
’m going to live for a while yet, I might as well be reasonably comfortable. What would Tali think if she saw this mess?

Another wave of self-pity.
Tali probably doesn’t give two shits about me. I just hope Heller remembers to call me when he hears from her.
If
he hears from her. Tali could be dead for all I know. I smile ruefully as I think of Tali in a box, alive and dead at the same time. I suppose she could remain that way, if Heller never calls. Or if he calls and I don’t answer. (I know, it doesn’t work like that. It’s a fucking metaphor, relax.) Anyway, I’m not sure I trust him, which is the main reason I asked to come back tomorrow. I mean, I want to hear the rest of his story too, but mostly I want to see if Tali shows up.

I wash the dishes in the sink and do a little straightening up and then go back to reading Heller’s book.
I have nothing else to occupy my time, and maybe understanding Heller’s work will help me figure out what happened with Tali. The book isn’t all gooey quasi-mystical stuff; much of it is devoted to a rather lucid explanation of the weirdness of quantum phenomena – the same weirdness demonstrated by the “double slit experiment.” Heller further illustrates this weirdness with something he calls a “Box-Pairs Experiment.” The experiment has some similarities to a shell game, where the player has to try to guess which shell a pea is hidden under. The difference is that with the shell game, observation only
reveals
the location of the object. With the Box-Pairs Experiment, observation actually
determines
the location of the object. If you’re willing to trust me on that, you can skip this excerpt:

In a shell game, the pea has an equal chance of being under each shell. But this probability is purely epistemic. The pea has an actual location under one of the shells, so its location cannot be fully described in terms of probability. Observation doesn’t
change
the pea’s location; it only
reveals
its location.

In our experiment, we will put equal parts of the waviness of a single atom in each of two boxes, so that the atom has equal probability of being in either box. But our experiment differs from the shell game in that there is no
“actual atom” in a particular box. The wavefunction split between the two boxes is the complete description of the physical situation. And in our experiment observation
does
change the physical reality. Here’s how it works:

You have two boxes, called Box A and Box B, which are specially designed to trap and hold individual atoms. There is no way to tell whether one of these boxes holds an atom without opening the box. You arrange a semi-transparent mirror in front of these boxes as indicated in the diagram. This mirror is designed so that if an atom hits it, there
’s a fifty percent chance that the atom will bounce off the mirror and get trapped in Box A and a fifty percent chance that the atom will go straight through and get trapped in Box B. You have a gun pointed at the mirror. The gun has the capability of firing a single atom at a time.