On 16/11/2017 11:30 am, Russell Standish wrote:
On Thu, Nov 16, 2017 at 10:20:45AM +1100, Bruce Kellett wrote:
On 16/11/2017 9:14 am, Russell Standish wrote:
The choice between circularly polarised filter and linear polarised
filters is binary. Obviously, there follows the choice of orientation,
which is continuous...
Whatever the choice of orientation, the outcome is binary, pass or not pass.
Yes - but I was referring to what is the preferred basis, not the
experimental outcome.
Choosing the orientation is choosing what to measure, it is not the
measurement itself. It is just like choosing to measure either the
position or the momentum of a particle - any particular choice rules out
other choices. But once the choice is made, one can do the measurement.
The orientation angle does not set the preferred basis, which is decided
by environmental decoherence. In the polarization case it is the
observation of reaction with a screen or photomultiplier tube - the
photon passed or failed to pass. The polarization state is an inference
from this measurement.
Bruce
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