On the Subject of Wave Collapse

Any joke about Schrödinger’s cat is funny and unfunny at the same time.

The module has a 5x7 grid and 8 buttons to the right of it. Each of these 8 buttons is connected with one particle, located somewhere on the grid, with a symbol that describes its type.

Tap any of the buttons on the right to view its particle’s wave function. A wave function is a 2x2 square of the grid in which the particle can be located.

Remember the order, type, and wave function of each particle, as they will not be available after the collapse.

Value	Multiplier
Port plates	5
Modules count	3
First digit of serial number	3
Starting time in minutes	7
Indicators without vowels	5

Sum the results of each row in the table on the right, subtracting 8 until the result is within the range 1–8, inclusive. Hold down the button on the right which is assigned this number in reading order for more than one second. This will collapse the wave function of the particle connected with this button: the particle will take one of its four possible positions, and will be displayed on the grid.

To solve the module, press the positions of all the other particles in reading order of their buttons.

If the wave functions of two particles intersect, then those particles are entangled. To find the positions of particles after collapse, start with the initially collapsed particle. Find which of the remaining particles are entangled with this one. For each of those entangled particles, look up its type along with the other particle’s type to obtain a diagram, and place the known particle’s position, relative to its wave function, in the corresponding position in the diagram. If the position contains a point, then the position of the particle is unchanged. Otherwise, if the position contains a line, the entangled particle will collapse at the other end of the line. This position, relative to the unknown particle’s wave function, is that particle’s target location.