status behind the reasoning of wave function

[Science Freak]

sorry if this has been asked before, i tried to search for it but couldn't really find anything. my question is: what is the current status behind the collapse of the wave function, what are the scientists saying? did the actual act of observation collapse it or did the method of observation collapse it. ive seen many sites talking about the dual slit experiment and how when we tried to peek which slot the electron went through it only went though one. but what i don't get is what are they implying? we collapsed the wave function through the act of observing or because of the method of observation we used?

 

Thanks for your time.

[IM Egdall]

From what I've read, there are a number of interpretations of what exactly the wavefunction is and what makes it "collapse". I don't think there is a simple answer or even one which is the scientific concensus right now. The math of quantum mechanics works great but the physical interpretation of what it all means is still an argument amongst physicists.

 

I did just read a new book on the subject for the non-expert that I really liked: How to Teach Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel. It's all about quantum mechanics and its various interpretations. The Dog stuff is pretty entertaining, and I thought the physics explanations were solid.

 

 

[farmboy]

From what I've read, there are a number of interpretations of what exactly the wavefunction is and what makes it "collapse". I don't think there is a simple answer or even one which is the scientific concensus right now. The math of quantum mechanics works great but the physical interpretation of what it all means is still an argument amongst physicists.

 

I did just read a new book on the subject for the non-expert that I really liked: How to Teach Physics to Your Dog by Chad Orzel. It's all about quantum mechanics and its various interpretations. The Dog stuff is pretty entertaining, and I thought the physics explanations were solid.

 

I've said this quite a few times recently since I've been posting here with greater frequency lol, but still I'm not an expert in this (toughest of) fields, and so what I say should be taken with a pinch of salt indeed. That said I'm not sure it is really right to imply that there is contention concerning the physical nature of quantum p

henomenon, it is simply that they can't be related to anything we experience on the macroscopic world making them inherently difficult to picture/imagine.

 

Prior to collapse the wavefunction has a whole load of differnt solutions (I think that this is maybe wave-particle duality?) and the act of observing it basically adds a new part to calculation allowing it to be solved or there abouts.

[steevey]

sorry if this has been asked before, i tried to search for it but couldn't really find anything. my question is: what is the current status behind the collapse of the wave function, what are the scientists saying? did the actual act of observation collapse it or did the method of observation collapse it. ive seen many sites talking about the dual slit experiment and how when we tried to peek which slot the electron went through it only went though one. but what i don't get is what are they implying? we collapsed the wave function through the act of observing or because of the method of observation we used?

 

Thanks for your time.

 

Whenever an interaction of a particle is observed in any way, via light or EM force in a way that it is perceived or measured, the wave-particle instead only acts as a single particle, so its more of a mathematical notion of only seeing one possibility rather than the particle itself stops being a wave, otherwise it couldn't just go right back to being a wave.

Edited March 22, 2011 by steevey

[darkenlighten]

I would like to stress, it is NOT the act of observation or awareness that an event is happening, but the interaction that is needed to observe. Fundamentally we cannot observe an event without interacting with it and changing its current state.