Quantum physics uses complex numbers. Wavefunctions depend on them. But are they a part of physical reality? Imagine this:
You are one goal up in the last seconds of the cup final when the other team kicks a curve ball that follows a parabolic curve toward your goal but bends away without crossing the goal line. No goal – so you have won!
However the referee is a theoretical physicist who says that whether the ball crossed the line is a question of solving a quadratic:
y = -1 -x2 is the path of the ball
y = 0 is the goal line so solve 0 = -1 -x2
So the ref says the ball did cross the line at x2 = -1 , i.e. x = i
However, experimental physicists who claim there is no evidence for the ball crossing the line and ask him when this happened, he says i seconds before full time. At this point, they take the ruling is overturned.
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