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http://www.digitaljournal.com/science/experimentshowsfuture
eventsdecidewhathappensinthepast/article/434829

Scientistsshowfutureevents
decidewhathappensinthepast
PostedJun3,2015byStephenMorgan

AnexperimentbyAustralianscientistshasproventhatwhathappensto
particlesinthepastisonlydecidedwhentheyareobservedandmeasuredin
thefuture.Untilsuchtime,realityisjustanabstraction.
Quantumphysicsisaweirdworld.Itstudiessubatomicparticles,
whicharetheessentialbuildingblocksofreality.Allmatter,including
ourselvesaremadeupofthem.But,thelawsgoverningthetiny
microscopicworldseemtobedifferenttothosedictatinghowlarger
objectsbehaveinourownmacroscopicreality.

HadronCollider.
ImageEditor

Quantumlawstendtocontradictcommonsense.Atthatlevel,one
thingcanbetwodifferentthingssimultaneouslyandbeattwodifferentplacesatthesame
time.Twoparticlescanbeentangledand,whenonechangesitsstate,theotherwillalsodoso
immediately,eveniftheyareatoppositeendsoftheuniverseseeminglyactingfasterthan
thespeedoflight.
Particlescanalsotunnelthroughsolidobjects,whichshouldnormallybeimpenetrable
barriers,likeaghostpassingthroughawall.Andnowscientistshaveproventhat,whatis
happeningtoaparticlenow,isn'tgovernedbywhathashappenedtoitinthepast,butbywhat
stateitisinthefutureeffectivelymeaningthat,atasubatomiclevel,timecangobackwards.
Tobamboozleyoufurther,thisshouldallbegoingonrightnowinthesubatomicparticles
whichmakeupyourbody.
Ifallthisseemsutterlyincomprehensibleandsoundsdownrightnuts,you'reingoodcompany.
Einsteincalledit"spooky"andNielsBohr,apioneerofquantumtheoryoncesaid:ifquantum
mechanicshasntprofoundlyshockedyou,youhaventunderstoodityet.
Inthislatestexperiment,carriedoutbyscientistsattheAustralianNationalUniversity,lead
researcherAndrewTruscottsaidinapressreleasethattheyhaveproventhat"realitydoesnot
existifyouarenotlookingatit.
Scientistshaveshownlongagothataparticleoflight,calledaphoton,canbebothawaveanda
particlebyusingthesocalleddoubleslitexperiment.Itshowedthatwhenlightisshoneattwo
slitsinascreen,aphotonisabletopassthroughoneofthemasaparticleandbothofthemasa
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wave.
Australia'sNew.com.auexplains,
"Photonsareweird.Youcanseetheeffectyourselfwhenshiningalightthroughtwonarrow
slots.Thelightbehavesbothlikeaparticle,goingthrougheachslotandcastingdirectlighton
thewallbehinditandlikeawave,generatinganinterferencepatternresultinginmorethan
twostripesoflight."

Classicdoublesplitexperiment
Wiki

Quantumphysicspostulatesthatthereasonforthisisthataparticlelacksdefinitephysical
propertiesandisdefinedonlybytheprobabilitiesofitbeingindifferentstates.Youcouldsayit
existsinasuspendedstate,asortofsuperanimationuntilitisactuallyobserved,atwhich
point,ittakesontheformofeitheraparticleorwave,whilestillhavingthepropertiesofboth.
Thiswasdiscoveredwhenscientistscarryingoutdoubleslitexperimentsnoticedthatwhena
photonwave/particleisobserved,itcollapses,soitwasn'tpossibletoseeitinbothstatesat
once.Thus,itisn'tpossibletomeasureboththepositionofaparticleanditsmomentumatthe
sametime.
However,arecentexperimentreportedinDigitalJournalhasnowcapturedanimageofa
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photonasbothawaveandaparticleforthefirsttime.

Thefirsteverimageoflightbehavingasbothaparticleandawave.
FabrizioCarbone/EPFL

AsNewscom.auputsit,theproblemsthatstillpuzzlesscientistsis,"Whatmakesaphoton
decidewhentobeoneortheother?"
TheAustralianscientistssetupanexperimentsimilartothedoubleslitonetotrytoestimate
whenparticlestookonaparticleorwaveform.
Butinsteadofusinglight,theyappliedheliumatoms,whichare"heavier"thanlightphotons,
inthesensethatphotonshavenomass,whereasatomsdo.Thiswassignificanttheysaid.
Quantumphysicspredictionsaboutinterferenceseemoddenoughwhenappliedtolight,
whichseemsmorelikeawave,buttohavedonetheexperimentwithatoms,whichare
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complicatedthingsthathavemassandinteractwithelectricfieldsandsoon,addstothe
weirdness,saidPhDstudentRomanKhakimov,whowasinvolvedintheexperiment.
Nevertheless,theyexpectedtheatomtobehavejustlikelight,meaningthatitwouldtakeon
boththeformofaparticleand/orawave.Thistimetheyfiredtheatomsattwogratelikeforms
createdbylasers,althoughtheeffectwassimilartoasolidgrate.
However,thesecondgratewasonlyputinplaceaftertheatomhadpassedthroughthefirst
one.Andthesecondgratewasn'tappliedeachtime,onlyrandomly,toseehowtheparticles
reacteddifferently.
Whattheyfoundwasthat,whenthereweretwogratesinplace,theatompassedthroughiton
manypathsinawaveform,but,whenthesecondgratewasremoved,itbehavedlikeaparticle
andtookonlyonepaththrough.
So,whatformitwouldtakeafterpassingthroughthefirstgratedependedonwhetherthe
secondgratewasputinplaceafterward.Therefore,whetheritcontinuedasaparticleor
changedintoawavewasn'tdecideduntilafutureeventhadalreadytakenplace.
Timewentbackwards.Causeandeffectappeartobereversed.Thefuturecausedthepast.The
arrowoftimeseemedtoworkinreverse.
Thedecisivepointwhenitsformwasdecidedwaswhenthequantumeventwasobservedand
measured.Beforethat,whateverwouldtakeplaceexistedinasuspendedstate,theatomhad
notyet"decided"whattodo.
ProfessorTruscottsaidthattheexperimentshowedthat
Afutureeventcausesthephotontodecideitspast.
Thereisalsogoodevidencethatquantumprocessestakeplaceinsideourbrainsandwithinour
bodycells,asreportedbytheGuardianlastyear.
However,Iwouldn'tadviseyoutorunatawalltoseeifyoucanpassthroughit,andIdoubt
thatwhatyou'redoingnowisbeingdecidedbyyourfutureselfalreadyactingtomorrow.
Nevertheless,itwouldbeniceif,onmynextbirthday,Ibecameayearyounger.

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