The quantum Cheshire cat effect draws its name from the fictional Cheshire Cat in the Alice in Wonderland story. That cat was able to disappear, leaving only its grin behind.
Similarly, in a 2013 paper, researchers claimed quantum particles are able to separate from their properties, with the properties traveling along paths the particle cannot. They named this the quantum Cheshire cat effect. Researchers since have claimed to extend this further, swapping disembodied properties between particles, disembodying multiple properties simultaneously, and even "separating the wave-particle duality" of a particle.
However, recent research published in the New Journal of Physics, shows that these experiments don't actually show particles splitting from their properties, but instead display another counterintuitive feature of quantum mechanics—contextuality.
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