...and we are all together

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1740207]

Context.

Comments

[andrewhickey.livejournal.com]

Yes to all of the above except four, which is actually meaningless (there's no way to distinguish between one atom and another - if you take a pattern of atoms apart and then create the same pattern again in 'different' atoms, what you have at the end is the same object. There are no 'different' atoms of, say, hydrogen to make you out of.)

[pete stevens (from livejournal.com)]

#4, you probably can't.

If there's one atom in your body that isn't in a quantum eigenstate of the measurement you're about to make (seems likely!) the act of measuring it will change it's state to be a quantum eigenstate. Whilst you can reassemble your body as you measured it, this will be a different body to the one you had before the measurement process started. (imagine you're given a box which unbeknownst to you contains Schroedingers cat and hasn't yet been opened. How do you reassemble that in the superposition of states it starts in).

Of course what's interesting is if you can do a simultaneous measurement of your body resulting in a version of you with everything being in an eigenstate without killing you. I don't believe anyone has a definitive answer but if you can it would suggest that teleportation would be possible.

As with many good questions, Chris Lightfoot thought of it all first...

http://www.ex-parrot.com/~chris/wwwitter/20040515-and_one_of_the_fingers_on_the_button_will_be.html