Hoogley said:Hi, can smart people please assist me with understanding something: why doesn't the "final" observation at the back screen create the same kind of effect as an observation made before the particle hits the back screen?
So, if I understand correctly, where you make the observation is important: there's something like a gradient blending of the apparent "either, or" and "both" results, dependent on where you make your observation/measurement. The closer to the slits, the closer to the single path result; the closer to the screen, the closer to the many path result.bhobba said:Exactly how much before?
A bit before won't make any difference.
Very close to the slits means you simply get blobs around the slits.
In between you get sort of a mixture.
Hoogley said:I was hoping there might be a Feynman-like answer to go along with the mathematics.
The black plate is an observation, but the question it is asking is "Where is the particle at the moment that it hits the plate". It tells us nothing definite (as opposed to a probabilistic statement about where might have found it if we had looked) about where the particle was at any time before that moment.Hoogley said:I was trying to look at it this way: the back plate is, in essence, also an observation that asks the question "which way?", and if you ask the question when - or after, I suppose - the particle has reached the plate, then the answer is "both".
You'll often see the double-slit experiment explained that way, but as far as the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics is concerned, it is neither "either", nor "both", nor "or", nor "one, but we don't know which". It is undefined - when we aren't measuring the position of the particle, it has no position.However, It seems that if you make an observation to ask the same question anytime/anywhere before the plate, whether before or after the slits, then the answer is "either, or".
The double slit experiment is a classic experiment in physics that demonstrates the wave-particle duality of light. It involves shining a beam of light through two parallel slits and observing the resulting pattern on a screen, which can exhibit both interference and diffraction patterns.
The double slit experiment is often used to illustrate the concept of states of observation in quantum mechanics. This refers to the idea that the act of observing or measuring a particle can influence its behavior and change its state, leading to different outcomes in the experiment.
The double slit experiment is significant in quantum mechanics because it challenges our traditional understanding of particles as distinct, solid objects. Instead, it suggests that particles can also exhibit wave-like properties and can exist in multiple states at once, known as superposition.
Yes, the double slit experiment has been performed with other particles such as electrons, atoms, and even large molecules. This further supports the idea of wave-particle duality and the influence of observation on the behavior of particles.
The double slit experiment challenges our classical understanding of reality and raises questions about the nature of particles and the role of observation in shaping our perception of the world. It also has implications for fields such as quantum computing and communication.