Double Slit

[Dropship]

Is there any update on the Double Slit Experiment, or are scientists still scratching their heads?

There are plenty of youtube vids which call it "inexplicable" because the photons seem to change their behaviour as if they know they're being watched.

One scientist said "It's as though we're not allowed to know", implying there are unseen forces in the universe.

[swansont]

43 minutes ago, Dropship said:

Is there any update on the Double Slit Experiment, or are scientists still scratching their heads?

There are plenty of youtube vids which call it "inexplicable" because the photons seem to change their behaviour as if they know they're being watched.

One scientist said "It's as though we're not allowed to know", implying there are unseen forces in the universe.

Citing a youtube video is not exactly a rigorous argument, and “force” has a particular definition in physics. A force is not involved here.

[exchemist]

1 hour ago, Dropship said:

Is there any update on the Double Slit Experiment, or are scientists still scratching their heads?

There are plenty of youtube vids which call it "inexplicable" because the photons seem to change their behaviour as if they know they're being watched.

One scientist said "It's as though we're not allowed to know", implying there are unseen forces in the universe.

It depends what you mean by "inexplicable". The behaviour observed in the double slit experiment is just as predicted by quantum theory, so it does not pose a problem for the theory. The problem is to envisage how to interpret what both theory and experiment say about the nature of things. So it is more of a philosophical problem than a science problem, really.  If one belongs to the "shut up and calculate" school of (non-) interpretation, there is no problem at all!  https://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=9649&cpage=1

Edited March 9, 2022 by exchemist

[Dropship]

Perhaps if the "explanation" was put in a youtube video it'd clear things up once and for all.

The biggest stumbling block for wannabee explainers seems to be that when apparatus is put in place to observe the photons, they change their behavior as if they know they're being watched..:)

[studiot]

8 minutes ago, Dropship said:

The biggest stumbling block for wannabee explainers

The biggest stumbling block is folks being far too vague about what they mean by

"The Double Slit",

and then mixing up different experiments.

What do you think it means ?

Hint there is dozens of different double slit experiments.

[swansont]

1 hour ago, Dropship said:

Perhaps if the "explanation" was put in a youtube video it'd clear things up once and for all.

Doubtful. 

The explanation requires a certain basic understanding of physics, which is not universal, and ignores the reality that not everyone responds to the same style of explanation.

[MigL]

Quantum Mechanics does have some element of "we're not allowed to know".
It has a name, and is well accounted for in a theory that has been tested countless times, and has great predictive powers.
It is called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.

[exchemist]

4 hours ago, Dropship said:

Perhaps if the "explanation" was put in a youtube video it'd clear things up once and for all.

The biggest stumbling block for wannabee explainers seems to be that when apparatus is put in place to observe the photons, they change their behavior as if they know they're being watched..:)

That's anthropomorphising, though: typical for YouTube videos but not good science. It's nothing to do with whether there has been any conscious observation. The issue is whether there has been an interaction with them or not. You can't observe a system without interacting with it, as a rule.

[Genady]

5 hours ago, Dropship said:

Perhaps if the "explanation" was put in a youtube video it'd clear things up once and for all.

The biggest stumbling block for wannabee explainers seems to be that when apparatus is put in place to observe the photons, they change their behavior as if they know they're being watched..:)

Here you go: