I wrote:
>Would this experimental result actually be predicted by the quantum
>formalism, though? It sounds >like they had a setup similar to the
>double-slit experiment and found a small amount of interference >even when
>they measured which hole the particle traveled through, but I thought the
>quantum >formalism predicts that interference would be completely
>destroyed by such a measurement.
After googling, I found a power point presentation by John Cramer (creator
of the transactional interpetation) at
http://tinyurl.com/29atj which
towards the bottom discusses Afshar's experiment and what it says about the
various interpretations...this page claims that while the MWI and CI predict
no interference, the transactional interpretation "Predicts interference, as
does the QM formalism." So, it sounds like he really is claiming that the
MWI predicts something different than the quantum formalism, which cannot be
correct since the MWI is just the pure formalism (ie the deterministic rules
for the evolution of a system's wavefunction over time) without the idea of
the wavefunction being "collapsed" when the system is measured (the
projection postulate).
Jesse
_________________________________________________________________
Lose those love handles! MSN Fitness shows you two moves to slim your waist.
http://fitness.msn.com/articles/feeds/article.aspx?dept=exercise&article=et_pv_030104_lovehandles
Received on Mon Apr 26 2004 - 18:09:26 PDT