The Twin-Slit Experiment

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Steve3007
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

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Terrapin Station wrote:You're not saying that we observe something mathematical though, are you?
No, I don't think I've ever said that. We observe such things as flashes on a screen or clicks from a counter. We use mathematics as we do English, but in a less ambiguous way, to describe and predict patterns in the things we observe. The specifics of those patterns, in the case of the ripple tank experiment, was what I started to explore in some earlier posts here.

As I've said, I think it's worth taking the time to understand, as fully as possible, the observed behaviours of classical waves before moving on to look at any other phenomena that might resemble them in various ways. I think it's only if we do it in that order that we fully appreciate the nature of those resemblances. And it's only when we appreciate that that we can start to try to think of models of what's "really going on" which fit those resemblances.
Steve3007
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

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Interesting new experiment on this subject:

https://physicsworld.com/a/double-slits ... gle-atoms/
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Papus79
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

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This is a 3 1/2 year old thread but I had a thought occur to me and I really wonder if this has ever been tried.

There have been all kinds of different retests of the double-slit experiments including quantum eraser and it still holds. What I want to know is if they ever tried turning the sensor off but putting a small house plant within a foot of the slits to see if it sprays interference patterns or two slits. There might be other things people could try but I'd think one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is 'What are the minimum requirements for a censor that collapses the wave function?'. That's something we can retest all kinds of ways to figure out what qualifies as a measurer and what doesn't.
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Pattern-chaser
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

Post by Pattern-chaser »

I think the double-slit experiment reached its peak when they slowed down the light to the point where a single photon at a time passed through the apparatus. Each single photon casually passes through both slits at the same time, interferes with itself, and goes on to 'draw', along with its other solitary friends, an interference pattern! <gobsmacked>

QM: 1; Everything else: 0.
Pattern-chaser

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Lagayscienza
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

Post by Lagayscienza »

It's hard to imagine (for a non-physicist) how they could better the experiment in the article linked to above. If you're down to one electron at a time and the interference pattern still emerges, then that would seem to be the end of the matter. As far as I know, electrons are fundamental particles and not built from anything smaller and so cannot be subdivided and you can't have half an electron. But then, protons and neutrons were once thought to be indivisible but now we know they're made on quarks, so who knows? It's all very fascinating.
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Sy Borg
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

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It's just the Cosmic Programmers saving energy by only rendering scenes in the simulation when observed ;)
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Pattern-chaser
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

Post by Pattern-chaser »

Sy Borg wrote: October 26th, 2023, 3:43 pm It's just the Cosmic Programmers saving energy by only rendering scenes in the simulation when observed ;)
That seems to be as valid as any other explanation I've heard. Let's go with your explanation for now, until something better comes along?

Instead of "God did it", which some viewers find provocative, we now have "The Cosmic Programmers did it". 👏🥳🎉😂
Pattern-chaser

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Papus79
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

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Pattern-chaser wrote: October 27th, 2023, 9:34 am Instead of "God did it", which some viewers find provocative, we now have "The Cosmic Programmers did it". 👏🥳🎉😂
Perhaps it could also be the black hole whose event horizon we 'live, move, and have our being' in maintaining homeostasis.
Humbly watching Youtube in Universe 25. - Me
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Papus79
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Re: The Twin-Slit Experiment

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Papus79 wrote: October 24th, 2023, 8:29 pm This is a 3 1/2 year old thread but I had a thought occur to me and I really wonder if this has ever been tried.

There have been all kinds of different retests of the double-slit experiments including quantum eraser and it still holds. What I want to know is if they ever tried turning the sensor off but putting a small house plant within a foot of the slits to see if it sprays interference patterns or two slits. There might be other things people could try but I'd think one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is 'What are the minimum requirements for a censor that collapses the wave function?'. That's something we can retest all kinds of ways to figure out what qualifies as a measurer and what doesn't.

You know... it's like someone 'up there' read this post. Stephen Wolfram and Karl Friston discussing the question - WTH are observers?

Humbly watching Youtube in Universe 25. - Me
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