Re: Quantum Computers [was Read any good books lately?]

John Clark (jonkc@worldnet.att.net)
Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:25:35 -0400

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Bryan Moss <bryan.moss@dial.pipex.com> Wrote:

>The most plausible alternative, imho, would be to assume that the
>wavefunction is not 'real'

The wavefunction is an abstraction that humans find useful in thinking about things very small, it's as real as the lines of longitude and latitude. Particles are real, certainly measurements are.

>and is a product of limited knowledge.

Bell's inequality has been experimentally proven to be false and that pretty much torpedoes the hidden variable idea, certainly the loopholes are very small and they seem to keep shrinking even more every year. Anyway, how could you be proven wrong, all good scientific theories need a way to do that. If you don't see interference bands many worlds is dead and Copenhagen is possibly right, if you do see interference bands Copenhagen is dead and many worlds is probably correct.

There are only two possible outcomes, what's your prediction, do we get interference bands or not, how do you place your bet?

John K Clark jonkc@att.net

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