Thought experiment: What if we wanted to simulate the measurement of a qubit using a classical computer ? Just like we can simulate the motions of atoms?

We could - in theory - simulate the time evolution of the many body (many qubit) Schrodinger equation, perhaps for a small system even in practice :

• What would we see if we would simulate the measurement ?

• Would we see the mysterious wave function collapse ?

• What would be the simplest (physical) system that we would need to simulate in order to see (in detail) what happens when we measure a qubit (when a the function collapses) ? Do we have enough computer power available to do that ?

• Could we even comprehend the answer /data (provided by that simulation) ?

We can simulate the motion of atoms using a classical computer. Therefore, it seems we should be able to simulate quantum mechanical systems on classical computers. However, there still seems to be some mystery surrounding the collapse of the wave function upon measurement.

Suppose we wanted to simulate the measurement of a qubit using a classical computer. We could, in theory, simulate the time evolution of the many body (many qubit) Schrodinger equation, perhaps for a small system even in practice.

What would we see if we would simulate the measurement? In particular, would we see the mysterious wave function collapse?

It would be nice if an answer could point out what would be the simplest (physical) system that we would need to simulate in order to see (in detail) what happens when we measure a qubit (when a the function collapses).