VS Blog: Schrödinger’s Cat vs Maxwell's Demon

“Everything is false, everything is possible, everything is doubtful.” – Guy De Maupassant

Schrödinger’s Cat, the possibly-living possibly-dead thought experiment in a box.

Maxwell’s Demon, the bringer of extra-entropy against the laws of thermodynamics.

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Time and time again, questions are raised against the laws physicists bring to the table; both in how we perceive reality, and how reality perceives itself. When we go down to a scale that we as humans cannot see, what becomes certain? Is there really a demon out there controlling the molecules to transfer temperature, or is there really a cat that might be paradoxical until we perceive it?

It looks like these two physicist ideals are going head-to-head to see who would win in a fight, and only one outcome can be truly perceived. We’ll be observing which one of these is going to be dead, and which one will make it alive in this system of Valve’s Versus!

Background

Schrödinger’s Cat

Proposed by Erwin Schrödinger, this cat was put into a steel chamber with a small radioactive substance alongside a Geiger counter mechanism. They could be best buddies, or they could be enemies, and the radioactive substance could fire off at any time in an hour. If it does fire, then the mechanism hooked up to a hammer smashes down on a hydrocyanic acid mixture in a glass vial. This acid could kill the cat, but you’d never know. The only way to know if this cat is dead is to check the box– and only then would you know if they’re still alive or not if the glass is smashed. Even though this cat might not be dead or alive, it has made a living impact on all demographics of science, showcasing that even those we might not know personally can have a huge effect on our lives.

Maxwell’s Demon

Proposed by one James Clerk Maxwell, the idea of his demon (although this was not given a name until Lord Kelvin stepped in!) was a being who controls a “door” between two containers of a hot (high-energy) and cold (low-energy) gas. He allows them to pass through on one side or the other, which brings extra energy into the system with a decrease of temperature as he slyly grins at the chaos. For the demon has broken the second law of thermodynamics, where no additional energy can come into or leave this system just from the heat conversion. Even though many physicists live to deny his existence, this demon comes around to laugh at those who do not believe in him. After all, he brings entropy not just in the thermodynamic regard, but as an embodiment of the utter chaos and disorder of the universe that we try to place a definition to… 

Abilities

Schrödinger’s Cat

Uncertain Physiology

As the theory states, the cat is always in a state of dead and alive. Only an observation within the box can actively tell us whether or not it is dead, thus it is impossible to state whether or not it is (or even know) until that happens. 

Many-Worlds Immortality

Thanks to the thought experiment processed by Hugh Everett in 1957, the Many-Worlds quantum mechanic interpretation asserts that any action is happening simultaneously, including the observer of a box. If you observe that the cat is dead in a box, that is an event parallel to another event happening at the same time where the cat is alive. According to Schrödinger himself, who had similarly bought into the idea and off-handedly mentions it in the context of his theory, these events happen simultaneously rather than individually to the reality. As a result, it makes it basically impossible to ensure that the cat is observably dead as a whole in the system. 

Resistances

These resistances only apply in certain contexts, mainly in the “observation” aspect. Observing the cat means that these states can be defined, however, making these resistances inapplicable. 

• Death and Life: The cat might be dead, or it might be alive. Only when observed can this be dictated.

• Fate Manipulation: By definition, the cat’s state of existence is only defined by observing it. Altering its fate would only lead to a set of events that can happen until it is observed, unless it alters the fundamental nature of observation. 

Maxwell’s Demon

Being Physiology

As you might be surprised, Maxwell’s Demon is not actually a demon. Instead, it is a being who can track molecules, acting as a bouncer of a door between two gases/liquids and only letting certain liquids transfer through. Not only can it perceive and react to molecules and atoms, but it is able to give them entrance into one another while interacting with (and holding off) others. It is able to cause these two chambers to decrease and increase in temperature respectively, violating the second law of thermodynamics without additional energy being present in a system.  

Resistances

• Temperatures & Molecular Manipulation: The demon is able to sit between cold (slow) molecules and hot (fast) molecules, remaining unaffected directly meaning that any macroscale temperature manipulation won’t do anything to them. It can interact with molecules and atoms to intercept them, so general atomic manipulation won’t affect them directly since they’re below such a system. 

• Physical Interaction: In the original idea of Maxwell, the demon does not add any energy to the system nor would it have any mass itself. This demonstrates that it would not be interacted with on a physical plane, although this could already be achieved due to just being small enough. 

Weaknesses

Schrödinger’s Cat

Could have a weakness. Could not have a weakness.

Maxwell’s Demon

Proven wrong, gg.

Feats 

Schrödinger’s Cat

Overall

• A thought experiment.

• Appears in Futurama.

• Is a cat.

• Taught in physics class.

Power

• He’s in Marvel!!

• Outerversal scaling for any series thanks to quantum superposition, which clearly scales to him.

• My cat could bite through cardboard.

Speed

• Cats can run at max approximately 30 miles per hour.

Durability

• Might have survived. You’ll never know.

Maxwell’s Demon

Overall

• A thought experiment.

• Appears in Futurama.

• Is not a demon, actually.

• Probably not taught in your physics class.

Power

• Able to lift a gate on an atomic-molecular level.

Speed

• The Demon can react to molecules moving in effectively any temperature.

• Temperatures in Nitrogen often hit in a 500 m/s range.

• The Demon can open and close gates before molecules can travel through it, intercepting them.

Durability

• Most models depict the Demon inside of the boxes, which could imply the ability to withstand the force given the Demon needs to block them off.

Verdict

Stats

As you might expect, neither of these combatants are really that strong. By technicality, Schrödinger’s cat is stronger due to existing on a macroscale, which means that they take strength. On the other hand, Maxwell’s demon is faster, as temperature in general means that molecules move really fast, and the being intercepts it constantly even before others can pass through, which would at a baseline just get way faster than anything a cat can do normally, meaning he takes speed. So, surprisingly, this category is evenly split.

Arsenal and Abilities

Both of these thought experiments have a ton of context surrounding their abilities, but there is a huge baseline to their capabilities. As it stands, Maxwell’s demon is a being that exists on a much smaller scale than what the cat can actually interact with, and the idea that it is a non-physical being (due to bringing no extra mass or energy himself into an equation) furthers this idea. His ability to react to atoms and molecules in travel and block them off gives a ton of merit for actively making it around the cat in case Schrödinger’s pet tried to do anything… but that’s really about it.

Maxwell’s demon in itself actually can’t do anything to Schrödinger’s cat. While the concept of observation can be done by technicality, it requires one on a macroscopic scale to understand the state that the cat is in. Even though the cat could technically die due to old age, or could die to the radiation present in the area, or could die because of any number of issues, Maxwell’s demon cannot perceive Schrödinger’s cat in means that would allow it to define whether or not the cat is dead. Even so, Schrödinger’s cat exists across a multiverse where anything that can happen simultaneously works out and does not, which Schrödinger himself applied to the cat. This contextually means that this physiology isn’t just something that exists in a parallel reality and not within our own, but fundamentally applies to the structure of Schrödinger’s cat and its existence, meaning that this immortality would require Maxwell’s demon to retroactively perceive the cat entirely in order to ensure that it is actually dead.

The theory in itself also factors in ideas that you’d need to keep awareness of the cat’s state, as although logic would say that the cat is permanently dead if it is indeed killed, we actually wouldn’t know that without additional perception and keeping our eyes upon it. Even if Maxwell’s demon could hypothetically “observe it” by looking at every atom or molecule within it (which could be potentially possible, although unlikely), it would need to constantly keep awareness because at its root the cat might not even be dead if it dies and Maxwell looks away. After all, we’ve seen that characters in Death Battle can regenerate from their very concept or come back from the dead all the time, so who’s to say that Schrödinger’s cat might not just get resurrected by Wiz? Anything is possible in any reality where Schrödinger’s cat has a chance for any outcome to be true in a realistic setting, and that is a scope far beyond the comprehension of Maxwell’s demon. /s

On an actual serious note, though, it’s very unlikely Maxwell’s demon can actually perceive in the first place. It has only ever extended to reactions to molecules and atoms moving rather than the form they make altogether, and many counter-arguments to the thought experiment have focused on the fact that perception of information would bring up energy that makes up any loss of energy present in the temperature change. While it is equally silly to say “the demon can’t actually perceive stuff” or “the demon perceiving stuff contradicts the theory”, it would be very much applicable to the argument that Maxwell’s demon simply cannot comprehend Schrödinger’s cat. On the other hand, the cat actually can’t interact with Maxwell’s demon. This effectively means that neither of their unique physiologies or abilities actually cancel out another, as neither can even interact with the other. 

So… technically a tie?  

Conclusion

Overall, while both of these combatants could be observed to win, only Maxwell’s demon could end the fight… just not within the long run. Even though the being is absolutely great at perception, he could only extend his observation to a microscale, meaning it would become effectively impossible to end the fight by just perceiving the cat’s atoms or molecules individually. Even though realistically the cat could die from old age or extenuating circumstances, we ourselves will never be able to perceive that as a fact if we’re not watching the cat, and Maxwell’s demon will never be able to perceive a situation where he can kill Schrödinger’s cat.

So, maybe… the true victor were the molecules we observed on the way? … Or no, friendship wins.