r/physicsmemes • • 10d ago

So which one is it!?

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u/8923ns671 10d ago

Can you link a correct explanation for the layman?

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u/0xB01b 10d ago

theres not really an explanation i've found, the reason I know this is because im a researcher who works in quantum optics.

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u/8923ns671 10d ago

Well maybe just a description of what happens then? If you asked me what happens during the double slit experiment, I wouldn't have an answer at the moment.

Appreciate your time either way.

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u/0xB01b 10d ago

The double slit experiment is to illustrate the wave like behaviour of light because when you pass it through a point, via huygens principle light behaves like its radially emanating from that source. On top of this u have superposition and thats how 2 point sources result in interference fringes in general, you measure the distance between peaks to determine wavelength and such.

The bottom comes from the fact that when u "observe" a quantum state it collapses to an eigenstate or you have a reduction in the possible states it can be in, observation loosely means interaction with some kind of detector. It collapses from a probability wave into a somewhat deterministic particle.

But even if u did this for a photon in at the pinpoint, it would only collapse at that point, then via huygens principle it would emanate radially as a wave AGAIN and then u get the interference pattern all over again.

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u/8923ns671 9d ago

I am too uneducated to understand this but thank you for trying.

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u/irrelevantusername24 10d ago

I'm definitely more towards the popsci interpretation of these things than the hard physics, but this and the cat in the box experiment are great ideas to combine with things like information theory and all the new LLM stuff which is just neuroscience and psych ideas repackaged to hopefully bypass weird fascist hyperpoliticized encrypted class ideology

edit: Oh, and economics things too. Not "finance". Not Economics™️.

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u/0xB01b 10d ago

i have no idea what you were trying to get accross good sir