- #1
aademarco
- 11
- 1
Hello!
For some time now I have been absolutely fascinated with quantum mechanics. Unfortunately for me, I am well aware that what I know of QM comes from over-simplifications specific to educational reading material and videos where a core goal of publication was to avoid the actual mathematics as much as possible, as to not turn off 99% of the viewers. These simplifications have resulted in me making what I think is a serious 'mistake' while thinking over the double slit experiment, the results, and their implications. I am hoping that someone here can put me in the right direction.
Up until now, I have interpreted that during this experiment as follows:
If observed, a particle will pass through 1 slit or the other, and no interference pattern will show on the backdrop of the experiment which maps the 'landing' point of the photons or electrons. If, however, the particle is not observed, it appears to pass through both slits at the same time (like a wave) and interfere with itself , thereby causing the interference pattern.
Obviously the above is a complete simplification of what is really happening, but it also seems completely incorrect and impossible. This, however, is actually how it's explained in a lot of descriptions of the experiment online.
What made me question this, aside from the description obviously conflicting with our current view of the behavior of matter at our own scale, was a more refined version of the experiment which i read about. In this version, particles were fired one-by-one at the 2 slits. Each particle left only a single mark on the backdrop, but if it was not observed which slit the particle passed through and enough were fired the same interference pattern would emerge. Once again, if observation device were installed the interference pattern would cease. But if we keep observers at the slits out of the picture, thereby retaining the interference pattern, we still only have 1 particle hitting the backdrop at one place. Its only when an enormous amount of particles are fired and the overall pattern of contact with the backdrop is analyzed that the interference pattern is noticed. This brings me to my question...We know what were seeing is identical to an interference pattern, but what is actually interfering with what? It seems more reasonable now, after seeing the experiment where particles are fired 1 by 1, that the particle is not interfering with itself but the waves of probability which describe which path the particle will LIKELY take are actually interfering with themselves to cause a pattern to emerge in the reality of where these photons land. This takes me away from the idea presented in so many videos I've seen, that matter exists as a wave of probability that interferes with itself and only solidifies when observed by a conscious being (which always seemed wrong to me), and draws me to the idea that 2 or more potential futures can actually interfere with each other. I envision that at the moment the particle leaves the source, also emitted are the waves of probability for which path the particle travels and the particle travels along these waves. Since the waves interfere, so the particles show it in the pattern that emerges only if enough particles are fired. Aside from the question of can probability travel faster than light, Does anyone even know what's interfering with what? The whole part where observation collapses the wave function is a secondary problem from this perspective which I cannot contently ponder over until I know that answer :) Thanks in advance for your time!
For some time now I have been absolutely fascinated with quantum mechanics. Unfortunately for me, I am well aware that what I know of QM comes from over-simplifications specific to educational reading material and videos where a core goal of publication was to avoid the actual mathematics as much as possible, as to not turn off 99% of the viewers. These simplifications have resulted in me making what I think is a serious 'mistake' while thinking over the double slit experiment, the results, and their implications. I am hoping that someone here can put me in the right direction.
Up until now, I have interpreted that during this experiment as follows:
If observed, a particle will pass through 1 slit or the other, and no interference pattern will show on the backdrop of the experiment which maps the 'landing' point of the photons or electrons. If, however, the particle is not observed, it appears to pass through both slits at the same time (like a wave) and interfere with itself , thereby causing the interference pattern.
Obviously the above is a complete simplification of what is really happening, but it also seems completely incorrect and impossible. This, however, is actually how it's explained in a lot of descriptions of the experiment online.
What made me question this, aside from the description obviously conflicting with our current view of the behavior of matter at our own scale, was a more refined version of the experiment which i read about. In this version, particles were fired one-by-one at the 2 slits. Each particle left only a single mark on the backdrop, but if it was not observed which slit the particle passed through and enough were fired the same interference pattern would emerge. Once again, if observation device were installed the interference pattern would cease. But if we keep observers at the slits out of the picture, thereby retaining the interference pattern, we still only have 1 particle hitting the backdrop at one place. Its only when an enormous amount of particles are fired and the overall pattern of contact with the backdrop is analyzed that the interference pattern is noticed. This brings me to my question...We know what were seeing is identical to an interference pattern, but what is actually interfering with what? It seems more reasonable now, after seeing the experiment where particles are fired 1 by 1, that the particle is not interfering with itself but the waves of probability which describe which path the particle will LIKELY take are actually interfering with themselves to cause a pattern to emerge in the reality of where these photons land. This takes me away from the idea presented in so many videos I've seen, that matter exists as a wave of probability that interferes with itself and only solidifies when observed by a conscious being (which always seemed wrong to me), and draws me to the idea that 2 or more potential futures can actually interfere with each other. I envision that at the moment the particle leaves the source, also emitted are the waves of probability for which path the particle travels and the particle travels along these waves. Since the waves interfere, so the particles show it in the pattern that emerges only if enough particles are fired. Aside from the question of can probability travel faster than light, Does anyone even know what's interfering with what? The whole part where observation collapses the wave function is a secondary problem from this perspective which I cannot contently ponder over until I know that answer :) Thanks in advance for your time!
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