Ep: 89 ”Quantum Information” Chiara Marletto‘s ”The Science of Can & Can‘t” Ch 4 readings and discussion
ToKCast
The Photon Is Not a Randomizing Operation
The quantum superposition created by the beam splitter unlike coin tosses dice throws and the like cannot be described with probabilities only it is something else. i first properly learned about this surprising fact during my doctoral studies from arta echott who in the early days of his pioneering work on quantum cryptography had to think hard about how to explain to an incredulous scientific community what was so special about quantum systems as opposed to simply randomized phenomena. The explanation for this counterintuitive phenomenon resides at the heart of quantum theory so much so that this fact alone can be taken as a signature of the photon being a genuine quantum mechanical particle just pausing their my reflex. It took me some 15 minutes to explain
