Interpretations+of+the+Double-Slit+Experiment


 * *Interpretations of the Double-Slit Experiment **

The de Broglie-Bohm explanation: The atom remains as a localized classical particle throughout and only goes through one of the slits. However, quantum potential’s influence is spread over both slits and it guides the atom along a definite yet uncontrollable and unpredictable path etched out by the pattern of distribution.

The many-worlds explanation: All possible realities co-exist. There are multiple parallel universes, one for each possibility. The atom goes through a different slit in each universe and the two universes overlap only at the level when the atom has not reached the slits. In each universe, the atom feels the presence of its parallel self which has gone through the other slit. The superposition and hence interference is the result of superpositions of universes.

The transactional explanation: An electron on arriving at the screen, or on arriving in a detector close to one of the slits, knows if it’s being watched and thus sends a signal backwards in time which tells the advancing wave how to behave (whether to go through both slits or just one)

The sum-over-histories explanation: The atom remains as a particle but it explores all possible paths simultaneously. It could go to the edge of the universe and back, orbit around Neptune a few times and return or simply travel in a straight line. However, summed together, all paths cancel out leaving just the physical path. The way paths cancel depends on the options available. If both slits are open, more paths are available and the cancellation is different.