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The article has multiple copies of most of the material (2 cosmic, 3 or 4 interferometer). The first set has too much detail and the second set repeats it. These sections have almost no refs. It has no History section, no discussion of the relationship to Bohr/Einstein. Not enough of Wheeler's analysis is presented and not enough of the recent implementations.
The current article does start with the Cosmic version which I think is a good plan. I think it is easier to explain and, being more extreme, does not rely on readers having to accept as many claims about experimental technology.
The current article mostly describes the experiments as Wheeler proposed them. I plan to move that material to the History. Then the new Experimental section can discuss the modern experimental results.
Wheeler's versions are famous but there are others especially in the modern era. I think it would be better to highlight Wheeler's role in the History and iconic examples but use a more generic title. Johnjbarton (talk) 00:35, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The material that claims that Wheeler himself made the "cosmic" version of the thought experiment is incorrect. I am currently trying to track down the source of this experiment. Actually, it should be called a thought experiment. I just went over Wheeler's "The 'Past' and the 'delayed-Choice' Double-Slit Experiment" that appeared in Mathematical Foundations of Quantumn Theory edited by A.R. Marlow. There is not even a suggestion of such an experiment in what Wheeler wrote there.
The earliest I've been able to trace it so far is The Quantum Challenge by Greenstein and Zajonc. However.at least in the second edition, it is offered in a "tempting to think that...." manner with a promise to clarify things in a later chapter, but the later chapter is intensely technical and appears to make no mention of this specific thought experiment.
good. I got the original diagram and have tidied it up and made it lots easier to understand. I will try to remember how to upload a copy to Wikipedia. I used to do that a lot, and then I got sick of edit wars, article "possession," and ego madness. P0M (talk) 05:53, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
John Archibald Wheeler thought it possible that a quantum experiment in the present could change what happened millions of years agoP0M (talk) 11:40, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
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Done Johnjbarton (talk) 00:51, 26 October 2024 (UTC)
