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arXiv · 2309.04018

Time-Symmetric Resolutions of the Renninger Negative-Result Paradoxes

Michael B. Heaney
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Abstract

The 1953 and 1960 Renninger negative-result thought experiments illustrate conceptual paradoxes in the Copenhagen formulation of quantum mechanics. In the 1953 paradox we can infer the presence of a detector in one arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer without any particle interacting with the detector. In the 1960 paradox we can infer the collapse of a wavefunction without any change in the state of a detector. I resolve both of these paradoxes by using a time-symmetric formulation of quantum mechanics. I also describe a real experiment that can distinguish between the Copenhagen and time-symmetric formulations.

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Michael B. Heaney. 2023-09-07. Time-Symmetric Resolutions of the Renninger Negative-Result Paradoxes. https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.04018

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