1 photon and a PBS cube. ???

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Originally Posted by Snilton

Isnt that what the video kinda said?

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You said "this explains it super easy" But it didnt explain what OP asked. This did explain an experiment on how to attempt to decipher / measure how particles worked and later how particles act as waves. My point is that due to a photon being a vague understanding one needs to treat it both ways. His conclusion was not conclusive IMO. Any way...this topic has fallen WAYYYYY outside my circle of concern:)

I still stick with it will be absorbed (probably at the surface and if not there...shortly thereafter):D

oh yeah, right..

If one photon would be absorbed, wouldnt every be too?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Snilton

oh yeah, right..

If one photon would be absorbed, wouldnt every be too?

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Good Point! - I guess this needs to be explained by someone far beyond my pay grade...and I am un employeed. Tocket probably hit it best so far, I never studied quantum mechanics, it appears tocket has...therefore I go with what he says. (it is still theoritical at best anyway) The trick from what I undersand so far is it if is being watched, it acts differently. What if 10 different people watch it differently at different angles:confused:

Damn...now I am COMPLETELY in Q4 activity:p

Wasn't there something along the same lines of this with a single electron + Young's slits? You just got a pattern of target dots scattered everywhere... :confused:
I remember watching a program about it on BBC4, presented by some rock stars son of a famous physicist, and they explained it REALLY well.

Dan

Edit: This isn't the clip I meant, but is about the same topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ-0PBRuthc

As a PhD student I doubt I am far beyond your pay grade. I did study some quantum mechanics, but mostly quantum chemistry. It was about 1½ years ago I took the QM course and this knowledge seems to fade very quickly. :p

Here are some thoughts anyway.

How do you see a photon? Well, you get hit by it... in the eye, of course... how else? A photon/electron/whatever cannot know it is being observed. They can, of course, be measured, but it is impossible to measure anything without changing it. In other words, the act of measurement collapses the wave function. I'm not sure of how they actually determine which slit the particle passes through, but regardless of the method it will interfere with the quantum state of the particle.

I actually like the video. Naturally it is severely simplified and not completely correct from a QM perspective, but I think it does a pretty good job of explaining it. Understanding QM is impossible, so don't try it, unless you want to end up in the loony bin.

In modern quantum mechanics there aren't really any particles, only wave functions. Everything can be described with a wave function!

Now, back to the actual topic. The probability of a single photon being absorbed or scattered by the cube is fairly low. In fact these probabilities are the same as the relative beam losses of the cube.

So what happens if we observe the outcome from behind the slit? If there is a wavefront aberation it would be present then instead of intefering with the initial launch of said materials? What if the target was the observer? What is the theory ofthe Planck constant here? H bar = h/2pi ? Possible that the photon hitting the target created a display of particles from the target making the waves?

Either way, wouldn't you be directly or indirectly measuring it? :confused:

Yes this is true...hard to be a "fly on the wall" if it destroys the outcome.....
I will ponder this while working on coaxing multiple coherent photons from a device I am working with...

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Originally Posted by Laserman532

how much information can you pack into a single photon?

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0 or 1 I would imagine...

-Adam

Well, we may never know the answer and would it really matter if we knew the answer...not likely.

BUT- I give cudos to the OP for an EXCELLENT QUESTION no matter how irrelevant the answer.:)