• rebelsimile
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    3 months ago

    How is the unobserved state ever known about, then?

    • cynar@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 months ago

      We can observe the end result. E.g. observing the screen only, and you get wavelike behaviour. When you also observe the slit, the wavelike behaviour disappears, and it seems particle like.

      Both end in an observation, 1 has an extra observation.

      • rebelsimile
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        yeah so if I looked at a log of all that, wouldn’t I have a “extra observer” detector, then?

        • cynar@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          3 months ago

          You could detect decoherence in the system, that doesn’t indicate a human observer, however.

          That process is, however, used to protect cryptographic keys, transfered between banks. A hostile observer collapses the state early. The observer gets the key instead of the 2nd bank, which is extremely conspicuous to both banks.

    • ulterno@lemmy.kde.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      3 months ago

      It is “guessed” using whatever mathematical model that matches the system.

      Of course, if our whole theory is wrong, then the guess will be wrong and we won’t know unless some condition arises where the predicted result and the observed result are different.