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Don't look now (lemmy.zip)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

How is the unobserved state ever known about, then?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 weeks ago

You observe the result, not the experiment while it is running.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago

They say, “I’m not peeking” but cross their fingers behind their back.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

We can observe the end result. E.g. observing the screen only, and you get wavelike behaviour. When you also observe the slit, the wavelike behaviour disappears, and it seems particle like.

Both end in an observation, 1 has an extra observation.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

yeah so if I looked at a log of all that, wouldn’t I have a “extra observer” detector, then?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago

You could detect decoherence in the system, that doesn't indicate a human observer, however.

That process is, however, used to protect cryptographic keys, transfered between banks. A hostile observer collapses the state early. The observer gets the key instead of the 2nd bank, which is extremely conspicuous to both banks.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 weeks ago

It is "guessed" using whatever mathematical model that matches the system.

Of course, if our whole theory is wrong, then the guess will be wrong and we won't know unless some condition arises where the predicted result and the observed result are different.