The Observer Effect: Testing Double-Slit Experiment?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the observer effect in the context of the double-slit experiment, particularly whether this phenomenon has been experimentally tested. Participants explore the implications of observation on wave function collapse and the resulting patterns observed in such experiments.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Dr. Todd questions whether the observer effect has been experimentally verified in the double-slit experiment, seeking peer-reviewed citations.
  • Some participants reference the Tonomura et al. experiment, noting it demonstrated interference patterns from single electrons but did not show the transition to particle-like behavior upon observation.
  • One participant clarifies that observing the particles leads to a single-slit diffraction pattern rather than a complete disappearance of the interference pattern.
  • Another participant suggests that while diffraction is a form of interference, the visual differences between double-slit and single-slit patterns may be negligible under current experimental conditions.
  • Concerns are raised about the feasibility of demonstrating the observer effect due to technological limitations in imaging and the nature of the experiments conducted.
  • Participants discuss the implications of placing detectors at the slits, emphasizing that measurement alters the system being observed, which is central to the observer effect.
  • One participant mentions the Afshar experiment as a potential reference, suggesting it addresses misinterpretations of the observer effect and many-worlds interpretations.
  • Another participant elaborates on the historical context of the observer effect and the "Which Way" problem, seeking references to experiments that directly demonstrate these effects.
  • There is a discussion about the nature of measurement in quantum mechanics and its role in collapsing the wave function, with varying interpretations of how this relates to the observer effect.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the implications of the observer effect and whether it has been conclusively demonstrated in experiments. There is no consensus on the existence of a definitive experiment that illustrates the observer effect as described.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations in current experimental setups and the challenges in isolating the observer effect from other variables. There is also mention of the need for improved technology to visualize the differences in patterns resulting from observation.

  • #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
 
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  • #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
 
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  • #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
 
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  • #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:

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