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[[P]sYDoNiA]

Well... I'm sure we have all heard of the nutters who try to make computers in Dwarf Fortress, well there's another thing for those insane dudes to ponder...

Quantum Mechanics in Dwarf Fortress?

Don't know what the heck tha' Quantum-thingy is? You can read up on it here, in this site (for children!) or if you think you a big boy, tackle the stuff here... though the former link may be all you need for your brain to explode into dust.


So... if you're curious about this... I don't actually think it's entirely possible under the current DF physics... but what do I know? I'm just some dumb-ass kid.


WAIT! There's more!


Have you heard of the thought experiment, Schrödinger's cat?


Well... I figured... atleast we could test this in DF!


But instead of reading through all that BS, how 'bout we dorfify it!

Schrödinger Urist's cat

Basically, Schrödinger wrote:

One can even set up quite ridiculous cases. A cat is penned up in a steel chamber, along with the following device (which must be secured against direct interference by the cat): in a Geiger counter there is a tiny bit of radioactive substance, so small, that perhaps in the course of the hour one of the atoms decays, but also, with equal probability, perhaps none; if it happens, the counter tube discharges and through a relay releases a hammer which shatters a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. If one has left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would say that the cat still lives if meanwhile no atom has decayed. The psi-function of the entire system would express this by having in it the living and dead cat (pardon the expression) mixed or smeared out in equal parts.

It is typical of these cases that an indeterminacy originally restricted to the atomic domain becomes transformed into macroscopic indeterminacy, which can then be resolved by direct observation. That prevents us from so naively accepting as valid a "blurred model" for representing reality. In itself it would not embody anything unclear or contradictory. There is a difference between a shaky or out-of-focus photograph and a snapshot of clouds and fog banks.

Bleh. Can't be bothered reading that?

Well let me help,

To dorfify that...

A kitten or an elf is caged in an air-tight vault. It is vital that it must be one of the two species or it won't work. There is possibly some kind of water based mechanism set in the room as well; water falls into a pool from above, is slowly drained out of the bottom of the pool and if the water is below a certain mark then a lever will activate which will trigger a draw bridge to slam down, destroying some kind of tether holding a sock high above the cage in the air. The sock will then plummet to the ground and hit the test subject, exploding them in gore.

Why do all this?

Well, WHY NOT!

First you get to see letters (pixels for you tilesetters) explode in a violent tirade... that should be more than enough to convince you!

The second reason? Uh. I forgot.


Even if you don't understand why you are doing this, only one phrase is needed:

IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE!

And for great distraction.

Oh, yeah that's right.

I remember what the second reason is.

To prove that simple quantum mechanics work in DF!

Hurrah!

-Possible? Logistical?

Some one do this, then take a recording?

~My 2 penneth~

-~Cheers~-

[P]sYDoNiA

[Ampersand]

Fire a catapult at a wall with two closely placed but not adjacent fortifications on it. Examine the resultant pattern of stones beyond it.

[[P]sYDoNiA]

-.-''

Not that simple...

But yes! We have Quantum Theory! (Some o' it)

If only some dude tested the Elitzur-Vaidman bomb-testing theory...

Instant Fun!

[Pie]

Wouldn't the way to do it be to have an arrangement like this:

Code: [Select]

W = Wall
~ = Hatch with magma on top
h = Hatch with 2/7 depth water on top
E = Elf
. = Floor
p = Pressure plate linked to magma hatch, activated whenever any water lands on it.
l = Lever linked to water hatch

z=1
WWWWWWWWWW
W~WWhWl...
WWWWWWWWWW

z=0
WWWWWWWWWW
WEW..pWWWW
WWWWWWWWWW

You would then pull the lever and the state of the elf is in a superposed state of being both disappointing and horribly burning in agony at the same time (or alive or dead). This is because the allocation of that extra layer of water could go to the left or right (and has equal chance of going to both. The only way to know if the elf had died would be to go down a z-level to check.

I might actually try this...

[AlienChickenPie]

Fire a catapult at a wall with two closely placed but not adjacent fortifications on it. Examine the resultant pattern of stones beyond it.

You win.

[[P]sYDoNiA]

See, the thing I love about DF is that they combine several of my favourite elements in games.

1) Non-linear gameplay with physics and an array of tools to abuse them.

2) Burnings things to a mashy pulp.

When you want to do things like these, it's possible.

God bless Toady.

Wait... thats not possible is it?

He already is God.

[Keilden]

Make a time machine! If you throw somthing fast enough with a bridge it will go back in forward in time to the creatures death!

[Kalimar]

Fire a catapult at a wall with two closely placed but not adjacent fortifications on it. Examine the resultant pattern of stones beyond it.

Wooden bolts are waves AND particles bro.

[Draco18s]

Fire a catapult at a wall with two closely placed but not adjacent fortifications on it. Examine the resultant pattern of stones beyond it.

Fire a stone at a line of walls and see how often the stone appears on the other side of the barrier.

[Hairywoodenleg]

Fire a catapult at a wall with two closely placed but not adjacent fortifications on it. Examine the resultant pattern of stones beyond it.

The result was just two groups of piles of stone.
But when i tried it with adjacent fortifications

Code: [Select]

0  0%       |_...................#
29 20.28%   |_...................#
32 22.38%   |_...................#
21 14.69    |_...................#
25 17.48%   |_...................=.........CCC
11 7.69%    |_...................=.........CCC
25 17.48%   |_...................#         CCC
0  0%       |_...................#


total 143
There's some kind of pattern there. If we just knew how much a dorfpound and lenght of a tile were in metric system we could do the maths and prove gabbro moves as a wave.

[Asehujiko]

Fire a catapult at a wall with two closely placed but not adjacent fortifications on it. Examine the resultant pattern of stones beyond it.

The result was just two groups of piles of stone.
But when i tried it with adjacent fortifications

Code: [Select]

0  0%       |_...................#
29 20.28%   |_...................#
32 22.38%   |_...................#
21 14.69    |_...................#
25 17.48%   |_...................=.........CCC
11 7.69%    |_...................=.........CCC
25 17.48%   |_...................#         CCC
0  0%       |_...................#


total 143
There's some kind of pattern there. If we just knew how much a dorfpound and lenght of a tile were in metric system we could do the maths and prove gabbro moves as a wave.

Can we assume from this that catapult operators don't like firing in a straight line? I expected the pile right infront of them to be the largest or perhaps roughly equal to the rest but it's notably the smallest.

Try again with 10 times as much stone.