Thanks everyone, there was a misunderstanding on my part about how observation works on the quantum level. I now understand how observing a quantum particle can affect the results of an experiment.
Thanks, this makes a lot more sense. A lot of YouTube videos make it seem like there is some sort of magical thing that happens - "the particle is aware that it is being detected and therefore behaves differently". As though the particle has some sort of consciousnesses and the change isn't just...
I now understand how and why observation in quantum mechanics is handled differently than in everyday life, or classical Newtonian physics. Thanks everyone for your responses.
Here is another study that explores the same question:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/02/980227055013.htm
"REHOVOT, Israel, February 26, 1998--One of the most bizarre premises of quantum theory, which has long fascinated philosophers and physicists alike, states that by the very act...
In the double-slit experiment when a detector was placed before the two slits, a 2 strip pattern was produced after the two slits. When there was no detector placed before the two slits, a different pattern was produced after the two slits. Why does the presence of a detector before the two...
Thanks for the explanation. I think I have a much better idea of how the double-slit experiment works after reading. There is still one aspect of it I don't understand - Why does the experiment produce different results when the electrons are observed as opposed to when they are not observed? Or...
Referring to the double slit experiment:
I do the same experiment twice, and keep everything exactly the same except in one case the electrons are being observed, and in the second case the electrons are not being observed. In the first case I get a two strip pattern output on the screen, and...
Why does the observer collapse the wave function simply by observing? By what mechanism does this happen?
The bottom line is - the sensors caused a 2 strip pattern output as opposed to an interference pattern output. How can looking at something cause it to change? Is there some sort of energy...
Why does the observer collapse the wave function simply by observing? By what mechanism does this happen? How can looking at something cause it to physically change?
In the experiment when the electrons are being observed using a detector they produce a different output pattern than when they are not being observed with a detector. What about the detector observing them causes the output pattern to change?
Ok, but isn't it the case that when the electrons are being detected they act like particles, and instead of making a pattern like the one you posted, they make a pattern of two strips?
What aspect of the detection device in this experiment caused the electrons to act differently?
I hate calculus, I'm guessing "quantum math" uses quadruple integrals embedded in an infinite series with 16 dimensions. I'm more interested in understanding how it works conceptually. I'm an software engineer so I was curious as to how the Rules of Quantum Mechanics can be taken advantage of to...
Is there any effort to mitigate the effects sensors have on the quantum particles being observed?
In the case of the double slit experiment with electrons, when the electrons are sent down the slits without detection they create an interference pattern and act like a wave. When the electrons...