Can a future choice affect a past measurement's outcome?

DOI10.1016/J.AOP.2015.02.020zbMATH Open1343.81014arXiv1206.6224OpenAlexW3101893657WikidataQ62568713 ScholiaQ62568713MaRDI QIDQ307197FDOQ307197

Authors: Y. Aharonov, Eliahu Cohen, Avshalom C. Elitzur 

Publication date: 1 September 2016

Published in: Annals of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: An EPR experiment is studied where each particle within the entangled pair undergoes a few weak measurements (WMs) along some pre-set spin orientations, with the outcomes individually recorded. Then the particle undergoes one strong measurement along an orientation chosen at the last moment. Bell-inequality violation is expected between the two final measurements within each EPR pair. At the same time, statistical agreement is expected between these strong measurements and the earlier weak ones performed on that pair. A contradiction seemingly ensues: (i) Bell's theorem forbids spin values to exist prior to the choice of the orientation measured; (ii) A weak measurement is not supposed to determine the outcome of a successive strong one; and indeed (iii) Almost no disentanglement is inflicted by the WMs; and yet (iv) The outcomes of weak measurements statistically agree with those of the strong ones, suggesting the existence of pre-determined values, in contradiction with (i). Although the conflict can be solved by mere mitigation of the above restrictions, the most reasonable resolution seems to be that of the Two-State-Vector Formalism (TSVF), namely, that the choice of the experimenter has been encrypted within the weak measurement's outcomes, even before the experimenters themselves know what their choice will be.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1206.6224

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zbMATH Keywords

weak measurementquantum nonlocalitytwo-state-vector-formalism

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

General and philosophical questions in quantum theory (81P05) Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15)

Cites Work

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