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Obligatory "not a quantum physicist," but the only way to observe something is to throw something at it (e.g. a photon) and see what bounces back. The problem i
by brianush1 6y ago
Obligatory "not a quantum physicist," but the only way to observe something is to throw something at it (e.g. a photon) and see what bounces back. The problem is that when you throw something at it, you're interacting with and affecting the ball.
- monktastic1 6y agoThis is not quite correct. There are ways to gain information about a quantum state without interacting with it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction-free_measurement https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction-free_measurement
- mrkstu 6y agoDo (non)measurements taken this way 'collapse the wave function' anyway? Or can you only get information that is still open to change during the actual measurement?
- monktastic1 6y ago"Collapse" is just one way to explain how measurements happen. These are "actual" measurements, because they give you actual information.
- Koshkin 6y agoYeah, this is another popular non-explanation. (It does not explain why the ensuing randomness is subject to strict and perfectly deterministic laws).