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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

HeardPPBE %M %H %
4421.5996%66%55%

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Conversion

TeamOpponentPart 1Part 2Part 3TotalParts
Chapel Hill AGrimsley10101030MHE
Chapel Hill BCary Academy0101020HE
East Chapel HillTantaene Animis Caelestibus Irae10101030MHE

Summary

TournamentEditionMatchHeardPPBE %M %H %
VAULT II at Georgia Tech2026-01-24✓625.00100%100%50%
Triangle Cup2026-03-13✓326.67100%67%100%
VAULT II at Eden Prairie HS2026-03-13✓313.3367%0%67%
VAULT II at McGill2026-03-13✓410.0075%0%25%
VAULT II at UCSB2026-03-13✓422.50100%75%50%
VAULT II Northern UK2026-04-24✓330.00100%100%100%
VAULT II Southern UK2026-04-24✓422.50100%75%50%
VAULT II at Harvard2026-04-30✓420.00100%75%25%
VAULT II at MINT2026-06-19✓518.00100%40%40%
VAULT II Stanford Online2026-07-17✓825.00100%88%63%