The discussion revolves around the behavior of photons when interacting with glass, specifically focusing on the randomness of their reflection and transmission. It explores concepts related to causality and the implications of identical particles in quantum mechanics.
Participants generally agree on the randomness of photon behavior, but there are competing views regarding the implications for causality and whether exceptions to the randomness can exist.
The discussion does not resolve the underlying assumptions about causality or the interpretations of quantum mechanics that could affect the understanding of photon behavior.
skydivephil said:If I fire photons at a glass, some will be reflected back and some will go through. Which ones is by deifnition random, sincee all photons are exactly alike. Is this correct?
DrChinese said:Yes. exactly. Obviously, you could create exceptions if you had to. But the general rule is that photons prepared identically will behave at random at there is no underlying explanation for behavior of an individual.
skydivephil said:and hence traditional notions of causality are undemrined as there can be no cause if the underlying particles are identical?