Mott-like quantum paradox: omnidirectional source and…
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Mott-like quantum paradox: omnidirectional source and infinite line of detectors ?
Mott explains that when a particle is emitted omnidirectionally, as soon as it interacts with the surrounding medium, it decoheres and acquires a preferred direction of propagation.
I am interested in a similar scenario with an omnidirectional source in a vacuum and an infinite number of detectors all aligned in a specific direction from the source.
Let's say the source is a microwave dipole antenna. Then a vertically-polarized RF photon is emitted omnidirectionally (at least in the horizontal plane). Let's say the detectors are horn antennas with RF receivers.
I assume each antenna acts a bit like a beamsplitter: Either the photon is captured and the receiver registers an event, or the photon continues unaffected, omnidirectionally. Eventually the photon must be captured by one of the antennas.
Can we conclude that the presence of the detectors causes photons to be emitted in a preferred direction ? Is this related to the Purcell effect ? Doesn't this contradict 1/r² laws, maybe including for virtual particles which mediate interactions ?
According to another line of reasoning, when an antenna fails to capture the photon, this counts as a "negative observation" which affects the propagation. Still, the photon should then diffract dowstream of the antenna and remain detectable even in the shadowed region. So the conclusion still holds.
For a more idealized implementation, the source could be a single excited hydrogen atom, the detectors could be quantum receivers based on Rydberg atoms, etc. But then I'm not sure how to deal with random polarization.
Sorry if these are naive questions. I come from the RF world (where coherence and constructive/destructive interference are our bread and butter) and I am trying to figure whether wavefunction collapse has practical consequences for us.
#science
Mott explains that when a particle is emitted omnidirectionally, as soon as it interacts with the surrounding medium, it decoheres and acquires a preferred direction of propagation.
I am interested in a similar scenario with an omnidirectional source in a vacuum and an infinite number of detectors all aligned in a specific direction from the source.
Let's say the source is a microwave dipole antenna. Then a vertically-polarized RF photon is emitted omnidirectionally (at least in the horizontal plane). Let's say the detectors are horn antennas with RF receivers.
I assume each antenna acts a bit like a beamsplitter: Either the photon is captured and the receiver registers an event, or the photon continues unaffected, omnidirectionally. Eventually the photon must be captured by one of the antennas.
Can we conclude that the presence of the detectors causes photons to be emitted in a preferred direction ? Is this related to the Purcell effect ? Doesn't this contradict 1/r² laws, maybe including for virtual particles which mediate interactions ?
According to another line of reasoning, when an antenna fails to capture the photon, this counts as a "negative observation" which affects the propagation. Still, the photon should then diffract dowstream of the antenna and remain detectable even in the shadowed region. So the conclusion still holds.
For a more idealized implementation, the source could be a single excited hydrogen atom, the detectors could be quantum receivers based on Rydberg atoms, etc. But then I'm not sure how to deal with random polarization.
Sorry if these are naive questions. I come from the RF world (where coherence and constructive/destructive interference are our bread and butter) and I am trying to figure whether wavefunction collapse has practical consequences for us.
#science
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