Re: The unseen photon (riddle of existence)

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Article #1437

#1437

From: Ian Wild
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 16:43

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tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman) writes:
: 
:   Let us suppose that we fired a photon towards our two slit experiment-
: yet we set up no screen to absorb it.  In fact, the poor photon keeps
: on going, and is not absorbed by anything.  It travels out into outer
: space, and keeps on going.
:
: ...
: 
:   But does that photon exist, or not, if it never interacts again?

Who cares?

Seriously.  If it never has any interactions again, how can anyone (or
anything) be affected by its existence (or lack thereof)?

BTW - why did you need the two slits up front?  If I fire off a photon
from my pocket laser, carefully aiming so that it misses everything in
the whole universe, does *that* photon exist?  And how would you prove
it?

imw

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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!sparky!uunet!mcsun!uknet!siesoft!imw
From: imw@siesoft.co.uk (Ian Wild)
Newsgroups: sci.physics
Subject: Re: The unseen photon (riddle of existence)
Message-ID: <1992Jul24.164344.19072@siesoft.co.uk>
Date: 24 Jul 92 16:43:44 GMT
References: <1992Jul20.161843.26326@hellgate.utah.edu>
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