- #1
San K
- 911
- 1
For example let's look at a single particle, double slit experiment:
we know that the particle (photon/electron) will land up on one of the fringes. however it is commonly understood that we cannot predict which of the fringes will it land up on.
one could argue that since there was uncertainty in the initial conditions of the photon its that same uncertainty that is being projected on the screen, thus there is no inherent uncertainty because we did not know the exact position of the photon to being with.
we just knew that it has a probability distribution and that same distribution is being projected on the screen after "interaction" with the slits.
The question is:
if we knew the exact starting position (co-ordinates) and state (spin, direction of velocity etc)
could we predict the particle's location (co-ordinates) on the screen?The question is:
is uncertainty inherent in QM
or
is it because of our lack of knowledge (and inability of the current state of art) of the exact "starting/initial" position of the photon prior to leaving on its journey towards the slit?
we know that the particle (photon/electron) will land up on one of the fringes. however it is commonly understood that we cannot predict which of the fringes will it land up on.
one could argue that since there was uncertainty in the initial conditions of the photon its that same uncertainty that is being projected on the screen, thus there is no inherent uncertainty because we did not know the exact position of the photon to being with.
we just knew that it has a probability distribution and that same distribution is being projected on the screen after "interaction" with the slits.
The question is:
if we knew the exact starting position (co-ordinates) and state (spin, direction of velocity etc)
could we predict the particle's location (co-ordinates) on the screen?The question is:
is uncertainty inherent in QM
or
is it because of our lack of knowledge (and inability of the current state of art) of the exact "starting/initial" position of the photon prior to leaving on its journey towards the slit?
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