Abstract
This paper explains the delayed choice quantum eraser of Kim et al. in terms of the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics by John Cramer. It is kept deliberately mathematically simple to help explain the transactional technique. The emphasis is on a clear understanding of how the instantaneous "collapse" of the wave function due to a measurement at a specific time and place may be reinterpreted as a gradual collapse over the entire path of the photon and over the entire transit time from slit to detector. This is made possible by the use of a retarded offer wave, which is thought to travel from the slits (or rather the small region within the parametric crystal where down-conversion takes place) to the detector and an advanced counter wave traveling backward in time from the detector to the slits. The point here is to make clear how simple the Cramer transactional picture is and how much more intuitive the collapse of the wave function becomes if viewed in this way. Also any confusion about possible retro-causal signaling is put to rest. A delayed choice quantum eraser does not require any sort of backward in time communication. This paper makes the point that it is preferable to use the Transactional Interpretation (TI) over the usual Copenhagen Interpretation (CI) for a more intuitive understanding of the quantum eraser delayed choice experiment. Both methods give exactly the same end results and can be used interchangeably.
Highlights
Introduction to the Transactional Interpretation ofQuantum MechanicsThe transactional interpretation (TI) of quantum mechanics was proposed by Cramer [17] in a review article in 1986 and a short overview in 1988 [18]
The advanced wave is a standard solution of relativistic wave equation and was utilized by such notable physicists as Dirac, Wheeler, Feynman, Davies, Hoyle and his doctoral student Narlikar
The TI by Cramer [17], gives a simple and intuitive picture for wave function collapse distributed over the entire path of the interacting system
Summary
Introduction to the Transactional Interpretation ofQuantum MechanicsThe TI of quantum mechanics was proposed by Cramer [17] in a review article in 1986 and a short overview in 1988 [18]. It is a way to view quantum mechanics that is very intuitive and accounts for all the well known quantum paradoxes, Einstein Rosen Podolsky (EPR) experiment [20], which-way detection and quantum eraser experiments, [21,22]. It has garnered little support over the years and has fallen off the radar. The direct particle interaction theory (which uses advanced waves, traveling backward in time) was used by Wheeler, Feynman, Schwinger, Hoyle and Narlikar. Frank Wilczek recounts a conversation with Feynman [23]
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