Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 8/28/84; site lll-crg.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!mtuxo!mtunh!mtung!mtunf!ariel!vax135!timeinc!phri!pesnta!amd!vecpyr!lll-crg!brooks From: brooks@lll-crg.ARPA (Eugene D. Brooks III) Newsgroups: net.physics Subject: Re: Re: Faster than light. Message-ID: <670@lll-crg.ARPA> Date: Sun, 30-Jun-85 14:42:18 EDT Article-I.D.: lll-crg.670 Posted: Sun Jun 30 14:42:18 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 3-Jul-85 08:23:34 EDT References: <322@sri-arpa.ARPA> Organization: Lawrence Livermore Labs, CRG group Lines: 16 > Let me now take up your objection - essentially that a spatially distributed > wave function collapses instantaneously upon measurement, and this seems to > contradict relativity. Well, yes and no. Yes because how does the wave The wave function is not physical matter or an energy field. It is a computational entity used to predict the results of experiments. When you solve the equations of motion, you are solving for the motion of a computational entity which can then be used to predict the results of experiment. It won't predict results that are in violation with relativity, ie that the photon gets absorbed sooner than the speed of light would allow for. The wave function itself is just a computational device and is not some real physical thing that is distributed over space. The wave function "collapse" is simply the statement that there was one photon and if it gets absorbed in a given detector then no other detectors will absorb it. This is about as simple and intuitive as you can get.