light experiment

[general1]

I've been reading about an experiment with light that was done a while ago. It had to do with trying to figure out if light is a particle or a wave.in this experiment they found that light can be both a particle and a wave. The most interesting thing I have ever heard of came out of this experiment. When they tried to physically observe what direction the particles were actually going they collapsed the wave function of the particle or in other words they changed the physical properties of light just by a person being aware. If their is no person being aware of the experiment then light behaves differently. wow. anyone have any idea what is going on with this?

[krash661]

welcome to quantum physics..

 

Quantum Physic applied to Mind Power - Part 3 of 10

 

[pwagen]

Are you, by any chance, talking about the double slit experiment?

 

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-slit

[general1]

yes the double slit experiment is what I was referring to

[swansont]

It's not that they changed the properties, it's that the properties are not determined until measured. If you look for wave behavior, you will see wave behavior. If you look for particle behavior, you will see particle behavior.

[general1]

I just cant except that consciousness can effect the events happening in the universe. I think their are variables to this that we just are not seeing. I do think that when someone actually figures this out it is going to be very powerful.

[swansont]

I just cant except that consciousness can effect the events happening in the universe. I think their are variables to this that we just are not seeing. I do think that when someone actually figures this out it is going to be very powerful.

 

It doesn't require consciousness for there to be a measurement, and "hidden variables" have been investigated. Local hidden variables have been ruled out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_hidden_variable_theory

[michel123456]

Measurement has an influence on the result of the experiment.

So what?

That happens in all sort of destructive experiments.

[swansont]

Measurement has an influence on the result of the experiment.

So what?

That happens in all sort of destructive experiments.

 

In QM, the system was not in the state you measure until you make the measurement, which is not a classical property.

[EdEarl]

Quantum mechanics is weird. Subatomic particles aren't like baseballs. Thus, one just has to memorize the QM wave-particle characteristics and equations. Our bodies and minds have not evolved to sense QM things and interactions.

[SamBridge]

Ugh, I'm sick of that Dr. Quantum stuff and blatant misinterpretations. Look, pluck a wave on a string. Find the exact location of the wave...oh wait you can't, the wave exists in more than one place, in fact it mathematically exists along the whole string as soon as you pluck it. A subatomic particle isn't only a wave, but many of it's weird properties come from a particle's existence unexpectedly behaving like a wave. With properties like this, particles can have nodal surfaces, form wave packets and have amplitudes that can form constructive and destructive interference like you see in waves on a string. With this in mind, this uncertainty in position due to it's wave nature also applies to energy states. A particle doesn't only have multiple positions due to its wave nature, but multiple energy states as well.

It's still important to know that particles themselves are not completely waves, properties of particles that are not like waves is that they can go from being in an indefinite state to being in a definite state with an exact position or momentum which if you read above is something waves don't do, rather, imagine the probability of a marble or ball, waving.

[Enthalpy]

Not all the uncertainty results from the fuzzy nature of waves, alas.

 

Take the EPR so-called "paradox", say with photon polarization. Intricated photons have fully correlated polarizations if you measure them vertically versus horizontally. They are also fully correlated if you measure them right versus left.

 

The experiment tells that the photon pair does not choose its polarization when it is emitted, because a chosen linear polarization would leave no correlation between the circular ones; reciprocally, a chosen circular polarization would leave no correlation between the linear ones; even a chosen elliptic polarization would leave a too small correlation. That is the kind of experiments telling that the property is chosen at the measure, not before.

 

So definite waves lead to uncertain measures, but they don't explain all the weird of QM.

[SamBridge]

Not all the uncertainty results from the fuzzy nature of waves, alas.

 

Take the EPR so-called "paradox", say with photon polarization. Intricated photons have fully correlated polarizations if you measure them vertically versus horizontally. They are also fully correlated if you measure them right versus left.

 

The experiment tells that the photon pair does not choose its polarization when it is emitted, because a chosen linear polarization would leave no correlation between the circular ones; reciprocally, a chosen circular polarization would leave no correlation between the linear ones; even a chosen elliptic polarization would leave a too small correlation. That is the kind of experiments telling that the property is chosen at the measure, not before.

 

So definite waves lead to uncertain measures, but they don't explain all the weird of QM.

Not all properties are applicable because of waves which you're right about, but it explained quite a bit if you give particles both point like and wave like properties, but polarization is derived from light's oscillation mode and energy which has uncertainty from wave-like properties.