- #1
Badvok
- 30
- 0
Hi, I hope there is no issue with me posting this here but I'm stuck trying to get my head around DrChinese's page on Bell's Theorem.
"ASSUME that a photon has 3 simultaneously real Hidden Variables A, B and C at the angles 0 degrees, 120 degrees and 240 degrees per the diagram above. These 3 Hidden Variables, if they exist, would correspond to simultaneous elements of reality associated with the photon's measurable polarization attributes at measurement settings A, B and C. In other words, each hidden variable gives us the answer to the question "will this photon pass through a polarizer lens set at a specific angle?" "
However,
"Once any photon passes through a polarizer lens, its polarization will be aligned exactly with the lens thereafter (even if it wasn't previously)."
then
"According to malus, when completely plane polarized light is incident on the analyzer, the intensity I of the light transmitted by the analyzer is directly proportional to the square of the cosine of angle between the transmission axes of the analyzer and the polarizer." (http://www.physicshandbook.com/laws/maluslaw.htm)
so according to Malus's law, only a certain quantity of photons polarized at a given angle will pass through another polarizer set at another random angle, and this quantity is proportional to cos[itex]^{2}[/itex]θ, where θ is the difference in the polarization angles. My assumption here is that there is no way of reducing the intensity of the light other than by some photons being absorbed by the polarizer.
So it seems to me that it is not possible to have a definite yes/no answer to the questions A, B and C for any individual photon.
As such I can't actually make it past DrChinese's statement: "If you are not sure of this point, then please review the table above until you are sure.". It seems to me that the table should contain probabilities based on cos[itex]^{2}[/itex]θ or have I got totally confused?
"ASSUME that a photon has 3 simultaneously real Hidden Variables A, B and C at the angles 0 degrees, 120 degrees and 240 degrees per the diagram above. These 3 Hidden Variables, if they exist, would correspond to simultaneous elements of reality associated with the photon's measurable polarization attributes at measurement settings A, B and C. In other words, each hidden variable gives us the answer to the question "will this photon pass through a polarizer lens set at a specific angle?" "
However,
"Once any photon passes through a polarizer lens, its polarization will be aligned exactly with the lens thereafter (even if it wasn't previously)."
then
"According to malus, when completely plane polarized light is incident on the analyzer, the intensity I of the light transmitted by the analyzer is directly proportional to the square of the cosine of angle between the transmission axes of the analyzer and the polarizer." (http://www.physicshandbook.com/laws/maluslaw.htm)
so according to Malus's law, only a certain quantity of photons polarized at a given angle will pass through another polarizer set at another random angle, and this quantity is proportional to cos[itex]^{2}[/itex]θ, where θ is the difference in the polarization angles. My assumption here is that there is no way of reducing the intensity of the light other than by some photons being absorbed by the polarizer.
So it seems to me that it is not possible to have a definite yes/no answer to the questions A, B and C for any individual photon.
As such I can't actually make it past DrChinese's statement: "If you are not sure of this point, then please review the table above until you are sure.". It seems to me that the table should contain probabilities based on cos[itex]^{2}[/itex]θ or have I got totally confused?