Related papers: Is the Past Determined?
In the EPR experiment, each measurement addresses the question "What spin value has this particle along this orientation?" The outcome then proves that the spin value has been affected by the distant experimenter's choice of spin…
In quantum mechanics, time is introduced as a non-measurable quantity, as there is no possibility to build a hermitian operator canonically conjugated to the Hamiltonian. We cannot have, therefore, the time operator, which means that the…
Entangled states are notoriously non-separable, their sub-ensembles being only statistical mixtures yielding no coherences and no quantum interference phenomena. The interesting features of entangled states can be revealed only by…
Time delay is ubiquitous in many experimental and real-world situations. It is often unclear whether time delay plays a significant role in observed phenomena, and if it does, how long the time lag really is. This would be invaluable…
Many macroscopic physical processes are known to occur in a time-directed way despite the apparent time-symmetry of the known fundamental laws. A popular explanation is to postulate an unimaginably atypical state for the early universe -- a…
The capability of imagining internally with a mental model of the world is vitally important for human cognition. If a machine intelligent agent can learn a world model to create a "dream" environment, it can then internally ask what-if…
Although there is no consensus regarding the "reality" of the past of a quantum particle, in situations where there is only one trajectory with nonvanishing quantum wave of the particle between its emission and detection points, it seems…
A discussion of the quantum mechanical use of superposition or entangled states shows that descriptions containing only statements about state vectors and experiments outputs are the most suitable for Quantum Mechanics. In particular, it is…
The concept of correlation appears straightforward: measurement outcomes coincide, and patterns emerge. For any record of events, the coefficients are uniquely determined. Thus, if correlations change spontaneously, as seen in quantum…
Delayed choice and quantum eraser experiments have attracted much interest recently, both theoretically and experimentally. In particular, they have prompted suggestions that quantum mechanics involves acausal effects. Using a recently…
Unlike regular time evolution governed by the Schr\"odinger equation, standard quantum measurement appears to violate time-reversal symmetry. Measurement creates random disturbances (e.g., collapse) that prevents back-tracing the quantum…
Considering what the world would be like if backwards causation were possible is usually mind-bending. Here I discuss something that is easier to study: a toy model that incorporates a very restricted sort of backwards causation. It defines…
Similar formalisms have been independently developed in psychology, to deal with the issue of selective influences (deciding which of several experimental manipulations selectively influences each of several, generally non-independent,…
The classic Young's double-slit experiment exhibits first-order interference, producing alternating bright and dark fringes modulated by the diffraction effect of the slits. In contrast, here we demonstrate that its time-reversed…
We present a general analytic method for evaluating the generally time-dependent pointer states of a subsystem, which are defined by their capability not to entangle with the states of another subsystem. In this way, we show how in practice…
Vaidman has proposed a controversial criterion for determining the past of a single quantum particle based on the "weak trace" it leaves. We here consider more general examples of entangled systems and analyze the past of single, as well as…
Even if never elucidated, the question of determinism is a standing question along the history of human thinking. A physical system evolves in a deterministic way if its future is completely determined once we have fixed some present…
The results of space-like separated measurements are independent of distant measurement settings, a property one might call two-way no-signalling. In contrast, time-like separated measurements are only one-way no-signalling since the past…
The delayed choice experiments of the type introduced by Wheeler and extended by Englert, Scully, S\"ussmann and Walther [ESSW], and others, have formed a rich area for investigating the puzzling behaviour of particles undergoing quantum…
I address the question of measuring the subjective perception of the passage of time at the individual level in relation to its objective duration using a physicist-type treatment. A simple model is thus built in terms of a very small…