Sunday, July 01, 2007

Quantum People - a thought experiment

I've just read Chapter 1 of Volume 3 of the Feynman Lectures on Physics (ISBN 0201021188) "Quantum Behaviour". Therein is described the definitive two-slit experiments that reveal the quantum weirdness of wave/particle duality.

A couple of thoughts struck me:
  • 'particle' is a locality with specific properties; e.g. momentum
  • 'wave' is a propagation; e.g. of energy or information.
Feynman's descriptions involve bullets and water ripples and electrons. Might people behave quantumly too?

Think of this: a large room full of people begins to fill with smoke. There are two exits close together in one wall. Outside it's pitch black. A line of sensors parallel to the wall but some distance from it allow us to detect when a person passes. (We shall assume these sensors have a cycle time adequate to the capture of all events, and that escapees do not jump on each others backs or trip etc..)

If only a single exit is open, we would expect to see a Bell curve in the sensor data: more people would go straight on than at an angle once they are through the exit. But if both are open, we would expect some of those that do leave the exits at an angle to collide and change course, giving us the classic interference pattern. So far, so obvious.

What happens if we run the experiment many times, but with only a single person in the smoke-filled room? If people are particle-like, we would expect a Bell curve, as for Feynman's bullets. But would we?

[to be continued]

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