Thursday, March 5, 2009

Quantum paradox directly observed -- a milestone in quantum mechanics

In quantum mechanics, a vanguard of physics where science often merges into philosophy, much of our understanding is based on conjecture and probabilities, but a group of researchers in Japan has moved one of the fundamental paradoxes in quantum mechanics into the lab for experimentation and observed some of the 'spooky action of quantum mechanics' directly.

Hardy's Paradox, the axiom that we cannot make inferences about past events that haven't been directly observed while also acknowledging that the very act of observation affects the reality we seek to unearth, poses a conundrum that quantum physicists have sought to overcome for decades.

How do you observe quantum mechanics, atomic and sub-atomic systems that are so small-scale they cannot be described in classical terms, when the act of looking at them changes them permanently?
References Kazuhiro Yokota, Takashi Yamamoto, Masato Koashi and Nobuyuki Imoto.

Direct observation of Hardy's paradox by joint weak measurement with an entangled photon pair.

2009 New J. Phys. 11 033011

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