Quantum Eraser Explained
Can you un-look at something?
Your turn!
Question 1 of 2What makes the stripes disappear?
The story
Quarky sends light through two slits and sees a stripey rainbow pattern. Peeking at which slit each photon used makes the stripes vanish. Then Quarky erases that peek-information, and the stripes come back. It is not time travel: it is what happens when the which-way clue disappears.
What you'll learn
- Photons make interference stripes when both paths stay possible
- Knowing which path a photon took erases the stripes
- Erasing the which-way information can bring the pattern back
- Information, not just looking, is what changes quantum behavior
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