Packet 4: Bonus 5
According to the Born rule, the square of the modulus of this object gives a probability density function. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name this mathematical object denoted psi that represents a particle’s quantum state in quantum mechanics. This object’s namesake “collapse” occurs upon measurement.
ANSWER: wavefunction [accept wavefunction collapse]
[10h] This interpretation of quantum mechanics posits that wavefunctions never collapse, but rather every possible outcome occurs in different timelines when an experiment is conducted.
ANSWER: many-worlds interpretation [or MWI; accept Everett interpretation; accept relative-state formulation or many-universes interpretation; accept theory of the universal wavefunction]
[10e] By positing both outcomes happen in different universes, the many-worlds interpretation resolves this scientist’s thought experiment about a cat that is both alive and dead.
ANSWER: Erwin Schrödinger [accept Schrödinger's cat]
<Science - Physics, Hari Ananthakrishnan> | VAULT II Packet 04
| Heard | PPB | E % | M % | H % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | 21.59 | 96% | 66% | 55% |
Conversion
Summary
| Tournament | Edition | Match | Heard | PPB | E % | M % | H % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAULT II at Georgia Tech | 2026-01-24 | ✓ | 6 | 25.00 | 100% | 100% | 50% |
| Triangle Cup | 2026-03-13 | ✓ | 3 | 26.67 | 100% | 67% | 100% |
| VAULT II at Eden Prairie HS | 2026-03-13 | ✓ | 3 | 13.33 | 67% | 0% | 67% |
| VAULT II at McGill | 2026-03-13 | ✓ | 4 | 10.00 | 75% | 0% | 25% |
| VAULT II at UCSB | 2026-03-13 | ✓ | 4 | 22.50 | 100% | 75% | 50% |
| VAULT II Northern UK | 2026-04-24 | ✓ | 3 | 30.00 | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| VAULT II Southern UK | 2026-04-24 | ✓ | 4 | 22.50 | 100% | 75% | 50% |
| VAULT II at Harvard | 2026-04-30 | ✓ | 4 | 20.00 | 100% | 75% | 25% |
| VAULT II at MINT | 2026-06-19 | ✓ | 5 | 18.00 | 100% | 40% | 40% |
| VAULT II Stanford Online | 2026-07-17 | ✓ | 8 | 25.00 | 100% | 88% | 63% |