https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04818-0
Comment
Comment on “photons can tell ‘contradictory’ answer about where they have been”
1
Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel
2
Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Straße 1, 85748, Garching, Germany
3
Department für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80797, München, Germany
4
Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, 92866, Orange, CA, USA
5
Institute for Quantum Studies, Chapman University, 92866, Orange, CA, USA
b
carlotta.versmold@physik.uni-muenchen.de
Received:
6
April
2023
Accepted:
21
December
2023
Published online:
21
February
2024
Yuan and Feng (Eur. Phys. J. Plus 138:70, 2023) recently proposed a modification of the nested Mach–Zehnder interferometer experiment performed by Danan et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 111:240402, 2013) and argued that photons give “contradictory” answers about where they have been, when traces are locally imprinted on them in different ways. They concluded that their results are comprehensible from what they call the “three-path interference viewpoint,” but difficult to explain from the “discontinuous trajectory” viewpoint advocated by Danan et al. We argue that the weak trace approach (the basis of the “discontinuous trajectory” viewpoint) provides a consistent explanation of the Yuan–Feng experiment. The contradictory messages of the photons are just another example of photons lying about where they have been when the experimental method of Danan et al. is applied in an inappropriate setup.
© The Author(s) 2024
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