Has this photon experiment ever been done?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a proposed photon experiment involving polarization and beamsplitters. Participants explore whether this specific experimental setup has been conducted previously and what it might reveal about photon behavior, particularly in relation to polarization states and the influence of blocking paths.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes an original experiment where a 45-degree polarized photon passes through two beamsplitters, suggesting that measuring the individual paths results in vertical or horizontal polarization.
  • Another participant questions the motivation behind the proposed experiment, suggesting that while the exact configuration may not have been tested, similar experiments might exist that address the underlying questions.
  • A participant asserts that blocking one path in the original experiment influences the behavior of the other path, proposing that the new experiment could demonstrate whether photons are influenced by blocked paths or if they only yield vertical and horizontal polarization.
  • Another participant points out that in the proposed setup, no path is actually blocked, which raises questions about the validity of the initial claim regarding the influence of blocking paths.
  • A further elaboration is made on how the proposed experiment could show whether the horizontal wave component from the right photon affects the left photon, and whether this aligns with the outcomes of the original experiment.
  • One participant expresses a desire to know if there has been an experiment that definitively proves the influence of the horizontal wave component or its absence.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach consensus on whether the proposed experiment has been conducted or on the implications of blocking paths in relation to photon polarization. Multiple viewpoints on the experiment's design and its potential outcomes remain contested.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the discussion regarding assumptions about the experimental setup, the definitions of polarization states, and the implications of blocking paths, which are not fully resolved.

iamcj
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In the original experiment a photon 45 degrees polarized goes through two beamsplitters and comes out 45 degrees polarized and if you measure the individual path, you measure vertical or horizontal.

OriginalExperiment.jpg


I was just wondering, has the experiment below (or something simular) ever been done? Do we just get vertical or horizontal photons or maybe 45 degree polarized, or something else?
Experiment.jpg
 
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What question do you expect this experiment to answer? That is, what are you trying to learn from it?

I’m asking because on the one hand it is quite unlikely that anyone has set up this exact configuration, but on the other hand it is quite likely that other experiments that answer the same question have been done. You may get more helpful answers if you focus on the motivation for the experiment instead of an unmotivated configuration of lab equipment.
 
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Nugatory said:
What question do you expect this experiment to answer? That is, what are you trying to learn from it?

I’m asking because on the one hand it is quite unlikely that anyone has set up this exact configuration, but on the other hand it is quite likely that other experiments that answer the same question have been done. You may get more helpful answers if you focus on the motivation for the experiment instead of an unmotivated configuration of lab equipment.

I am sorry. In the original experiment, if you block one path, this influences the behaviour of the other path. The proposed experiment would prove that there is really nothing going on in the path that you block, in that case you would only get vertical and horizontal photons. If you get 45 degree photons at the end of the proposed experiment, I think it would prove that the photon is split in a vertical and horizontal wave component and that the particle only takes one wave component (one path). The vertical (from the left photon) and horizontal wave component (from right photon) meet at the PBS and they are merged to become 45 again, just as in the original experiment.
 
iamcj said:
The proposed experiment would prove that there is really nothing going on in the path that you block
But in your setup (second picture), no path is blocked.
 
Demystifier said:
But in your setup (second picture), no path is blocked.

The horizontal path of the left photon is measured/blocked and replaced with the horizontal path of the right photon.

If the right photon and the left photon both become vertically polarized after the the first BPS. The left photon will continu to the second PBS as a vertically polarized photon because the horizontal path is measured/blocked. The right photon will be measured/blocked in the vertical path, so the horizontal path should be empty. But if the left photon becomes 45 degrees polarized after the seconde PBS, it means there was a horizontal wave component in the horizontal path of the right photon that influences the left photon and this then also happens in the original experiment. If nothing happens, the existence of this horizontal wave component is ruled out.

I would like to know if there is an experiment that has proven one or the other.
 

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