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What possible, fundamental, misunderstanding of the nature of the universe could make current academics look like flat earthers? (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by Daft_ish@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

You're fundamentally misunderstanding the concept of an "observer" - it's not a conscious entity literally observing something. It's simply an object whose state depends on the quantum particle in question.

[–] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Why does the detector in the double slit experiment not cause an interference pattern if its state depends on which slit the particle went through, but then it resets its internal state after, without transmitting the result?

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

There's no way to fully erase the state, as information cannot be destroyed. There will always be consequences of the state measurement in the detector (e.g. through heat).

[–] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 1 points 6 months ago

Absolutely false. You have apparently never heard of the exact aspects of quantum mechanics which so surprised physicists when they were first discovered? (which are pretty much its defining feature) IDK, it kind of sounds that way.

I’m honestly not saying it’s as simple as the pop science oversimplification of QM, even though my comment was kind of invoking exactly that oversimplification. But yes, things like having the detector erase its measurements without recording them were exactly the types of experiments which started to point to something much stranger going on than just one object’s state depending on another.

Citation

Wheeler's delayed-choice experiments demonstrate that extracting "which path" information after a particle passes through the slits can seem to retroactively alter its previous behavior at the slits.

Quantum eraser experiments demonstrate that wave behavior can be restored by erasing or otherwise making permanently unavailable the "which path" information.

Emphasis is mine. If I’ve misunderstood something then fill me in, sure.

[–] Shyfer@ttrpg.network 1 points 6 months ago

There's apparently a answer to this I've been told by physicists, but I've never quite understood it lol.