[[learn double split experiment]]

I asked Chat-GPT-o1preview (for fun) and got a nice answer, though I don’t think there was anything new in it, even though I asked it to work out why it thinks the superposition of states would disappear, starting from first principles:
The collapse of superposition in the double-slit experiment when we attempt to observe which slit a photon passes through can be understood by examining the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics and the nature of measurement. Here are the likely causes from first principles:

1. Interaction with the Measuring Device:
• Physical Disturbance: To determine which slit the photon goes through, a detector must interact with the photon. This interaction is not passive; it involves an exchange of energy or momentum.
• Alteration of the Photon’s State: The act of measurement perturbs the photon’s wavefunction, forcing it into a definite state corresponding to one slit. This disturbance eliminates the superposition of states where the photon goes through both slits simultaneously.
2. Wavefunction Collapse:
• Quantum Superposition: Initially, the photon exists in a superposition of states, meaning it has probabilities of being in multiple states at once (e.g., passing through both slits).
• Collapse Upon Measurement: When a measurement is made, the superposition collapses into a single eigenstate. The photon is then found to have gone through one specific slit, not both.
3. Quantum Decoherence:
• Entanglement with the Environment: The measuring device and the photon become entangled during observation. The photon’s quantum state becomes linked with that of the detector.
• Loss of Coherence: This entanglement causes the coherent superposition to decohere, effectively turning quantum probabilities into classical probabilities.
• Apparent Collapse: Decoherence provides a mechanism by which superpositions appear to collapse without requiring a mysterious or instantaneous process.
4. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle:
• Compleme…

I’m not sure I’m explaining myself very well here, but what I meant is that perhaps the appearance of a particle is an illusion or emergent phenomenon of the triangulation of the photon, slits and measurement device. As with the rainbow, without the observer, the illusion of the rainbow doesn’t occur. It only exists in the relationship of the three itself, not any point in space.