The placing of one thing on top of another.
Used in a Sentence
superposition
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for superposition.
Editorial note
What is happening, again, is that the observer evolves into a superposition, corresponding to the superposition that the measured system is in.
Examples16
Definitions3
Parts of speech1
Quick take
The placing of one thing on top of another.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of superposition gathered in one view.
(geology) The deposition of one stratum over another; the principle that in a series of sedimentary strata, the lower strata are the older.
(quantum mechanics) The situation in quantum mechanics where two or more quantum states are added together (superposed) to yield another valid quantum state.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for superposition.
noun
The placing of one thing on top of another.
noun
(geology) The deposition of one stratum over another; the principle that in a series of sedimentary strata, the lower strata are the older.
noun
(quantum mechanics) The situation in quantum mechanics where two or more quantum states are added together (superposed) to yield another valid quantum state.
Example sentences
What is happening, again, is that the observer evolves into a superposition, corresponding to the superposition that the measured system is in.
The idea is that mathematically a superposition of analog waves looks the same as the superposition of quantum states, so you can get exactly the same behaviour using the natural laws of physics.
Decoherence just means the branches of the superposition don't interfere with each other.
The particle is in in a superposition of being destroyed/intact, the cat is in a superposition of being dead/alive, the scientist that observe the cat is in a superposition of mourning/petting the cat… Well, the Many World Interpretation of quantum mechanics.
Both the thing being observed and the observer exist in many states simultaneously (a superposition of states).
The state of a 300 spin system can, in general, have any superposition of the 2^300 basis states available.
It's entirely possible that gravity doesn't reveal information about quantum state, and instead is derived from the superposition of states.
Hadamard transform into a uniform superposition of all variable assignments (very standard step) 2.
That's not what quantum superposition means.
The state of a quantum computer is a superposition over all bitstrings, i.e.
It seems likely to me that the superposition in the formalism actually just represents our ignorance of the system's state, not the state itself.
Quantum computation crucially depends on the objective reality of this superposition.
Quote examples
But the system is still in a single state; the "branches" are not separate states or separate entities, they're parts of a superposition.
The NFL theorem is to me powerful evidence that something as general as human or even animal intelligence must be a superposition of multiple "algorithms" rather than just one.
That is the point of the "Schroedinger's cat" paradox: that under the Copenhagen interpretation, the cat actually is in a superposition of alive and dead states, until someone looks in the box.
I like that superposition of "Anti-mac's" Reality vs "Mac's" Metaphore.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use superposition in a sentence?
What is happening, again, is that the observer evolves into a superposition, corresponding to the superposition that the measured system is in.
What does superposition mean?
The placing of one thing on top of another.
What part of speech is superposition?
superposition is commonly used as noun.