The Observer Effect: Testing Double-Slit Experiment?

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Dr.Todd
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Observer
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the observer effect in the double-slit experiment, specifically how observing photons or electrons alters the expected interference pattern. Dr. Todd inquires about experimental evidence demonstrating this phenomenon, leading to references of Tonomura et al.'s work in 1989, which showed interference patterns with single electrons but did not confirm the disappearance of the pattern upon observation. Participants highlight the need for improved imaging technology to visualize the observer effect and cite various studies, including those by X.Y. Zou and E. Buks, while emphasizing the challenge of directly observing particles without altering their behavior.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of quantum mechanics principles, particularly wave-particle duality.
  • Familiarity with the double-slit experiment and its implications in quantum physics.
  • Knowledge of the observer effect and its significance in measurement theory.
  • Awareness of experimental techniques in particle physics, especially related to photon and electron detection.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the Tonomura experiment and its findings on single-electron interference patterns.
  • Explore the implications of the observer effect in quantum mechanics through peer-reviewed articles.
  • Study the experiments by X.Y. Zou and E. Buks regarding "which-way" detection in quantum interference.
  • Investigate advancements in imaging technology that could enhance the observation of quantum phenomena.
USEFUL FOR

Physicists, quantum mechanics students, and researchers interested in experimental physics and the foundational concepts of quantum theory, particularly those exploring the observer effect and its implications in particle behavior.

  • #31
Magic Man said:
It doesn't? How is it 'informed' and what exactly is being 'informed'?

My view of things is that incompleteness is always and issue, and we don't know everything.

To a certain extent I like the way W.H Zurek put's it.

"What the observer knows is inseparable from what the observer is"

I think that any system, or observer, is formed in a style similar to evolution by interaction with the environment, and eventually the stable system "formed" is in a certain sense in equilibrium with the environment. But if the environment changes, and the system is given unexpected feedback from it's environment it induces response, because the system configuration is now perturbed from it's previously "stable" or "preferred" state.

Furthermore I like to think of interactions and observation as a kind of communication. And in this communication both the sender and the receiver is self-assembled, and the communication protocol is also self-assembled by a kind of evolution or negotiation. The observers communication both remodels theirselves as well as possibly their protocol in the course of how the interaction evolves.

But I agree that there are issues here that aren't yet completely solved to satisfaction, and that's one thing I'd expect from future physics.

/Fredrik
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #32
Another analogy I find useful in grasping is "learning". Learning can be thought of as someone communicating/interacting with what you want to understand, complemented with some intelligent mechanisms to adapt and refining your questions.

There are strong similarities with "learning" and "equilibration", "in agreement" and "in equilibrium"

Edit: The analogy "in equilibrium" refers to the communication channel. So two systems can be in partial agreement, relative to a specific communication channel. (the only way they leve so to speak) So equilibrium can be seen to occur at different levels.

/Fredrik
 
Last edited:
  • #33
I can understand what you are saying but it still seems more like a convienience to explain a theory - i.e. it could be anywhere and everywhere at the same time until the time it is observed and then, at that moment, it chooses its final state.

Or perhaps it was in that state all along.

It's a bit like saying that I could be anywhere in the universe or everywhere at the same time until the moment someone spots me, then I am only at that one location. Same theory really but plausible...?
 
  • #34
A side question. How easy is it to re-create (at home) the Double-slit experiment, with a particle detector showing the Observer effect?
 
  • #35
You want an experiment, see http://grad.physics.sunysb.edu/~amarch/ Will show and explain to you everything you want to know about the double slit expt; blocking slits opening slits, and all the stuff that is sort of confusing.
Regards, Reilly Atkinson
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #36
gavinengel said:
A side question. How easy is it to re-create (at home) the Double-slit experiment, with a particle detector showing the Observer effect?

For an at home experiment you will find some suggestions in the thread:
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=209224"
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar threads

Undergrad Is There A Study Showing The Observer Effect Ignoring Conscious Intent?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
Undergrad Which-Path from Global Momentum Measurement in Double Slit
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
468
Undergrad Single vs. Double slit coherence clarification please
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
1K
Undergrad Double-dark Slit Interference Pattern?
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
1K
High School Q - Double slit experiment, delayed slit selection observation
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
Undergrad Double slit experiment with observer
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
4K
High School Yet another double slit thought experiment...
  • · Replies 20 ·
Replies
20
Views
2K
Undergrad How non-conscious can an Observer be and cause wave function collapse?
  • · Replies 23 ·
Replies
23
Views
8K
Undergrad Double Slit Experiment: Measurement versus Observation
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
High School Double Slit Experiment: Dumb question that needs to be asked
  • · Replies 60 ·
3
Replies
60
Views
8K