SHARE SELECTION

Click here to print

MailOnline - news, sport, celebrity, science and health stories
Wednesday, Jun 3rd 2015 8PM  16°C 11PM  11°C 5-Day Forecast
Home Top
Home Top
Your entire life is an ILLUSION: New test backs up theory that the world doesn’t exist until we look at it

    Quantum mechanics states reality doesn't exist until it's measured
    This means a particle's past behaviour changes based on what we see
    Experiment using an atom and laser beams has proven this to be true
    How the atom behaved depended on how it was measured at end of test

By Ellie Zolfagharifard For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:01 GMT, 2 June 2015 | Updated: 01:22 GMT, 3 June 2015

The universe doesn't exist if we stop looking at it.
This is according a famous theory in quantum mechanics which argues that a particle's past behaviour changes based on what we see.
Now, scientists have performed a new experiment proving this theory to be true on the scale of atoms.
The bizarre nature of reality as laid out by quantum theory has survived another test, with scientists performing a famous experiment and proving that reality does not exist until it is measured
 

The bizarre nature of reality as laid out by quantum theory has survived another test, with scientists performing a famous experiment and proving that reality does not exist until it is measured
According to the rules of quantum mechanics, the boundary between the 'world out there' and our own subjective consciousness are blurred.

When physicists look at atoms or particles of light, what they see depends on how they have set up their experiment.
To test this, physicists at the Australian National University recently conducted what is known as the John Wheeler's delayed-choice thought experiment.
The experiment involves a moving object that is given the choice to act like a particle or a wave.
Wheeler's experiment then asks - at which point does the object decide?
Common sense says the object is either wave-like or particle-like, independent of how we measure it.
But quantum physics predicts that whether you observe wave like behaviour or particle behaviour depends only on how it is actually measured at the end of its journey.
This is exactly what the Australian team found.
'It proves that measurement is everything. At the quantum level, reality does not exist if you are not looking at it,' said Associate Professor Andrew Truscott.
Despite the apparent weirdness, the results confirm the validity of quantum theory.
Quantum theory governs the world of the very small, and has enabled the development of many technologies such as LEDs, lasers and computer chips.
The ANU reversed Wheeler's original concept of light beams being bounced by mirrors, and instead used atoms scattered by laser light.
'Quantum physics predictions about interference seem odd enough when applied to light, which seems more like a wave,' said PhD student Roman Khakimov.
'But to have done the experiment with atoms, which are complicated things that have mass and interact with electric fields and so on, adds to the weirdness.'
Physicists at the Australian National University recently conducted what is known as the John Wheeler's delayed-choice thought experiment . Pictured is Associate Professor Andrew Truscott (left) with PhD student Roman Khakimov
 

Physicists at the Australian National University recently conducted what is known as the John Wheeler's delayed-choice thought experiment . Pictured is Associate Professor Andrew Truscott (left) with PhD student Roman Khakimov
Professor Truscott's team first trapped a collection of helium atoms in a suspended state known as a Bose-Einstein condensate, and then ejected them until there was only a single atom left.
The single atom was then dropped through a pair of laser beams, which formed a grating pattern that acted as crossroads in the same way a solid grating would scatter light.
A second light grating to recombine the paths was randomly added, which led to constructive or destructive interference as if the atom had travelled both paths.
When the second light grating was not added, no interference was seen as if the atom chose only one path.
However, the random number determining whether the grating was added was only generated after the atom had passed through the crossroads.
If you choose to believe that the atom really did take a particular path or paths then you have to accept that a future measurement is affecting the atom's past, said Truscott.
'The atoms did not travel from A to B. It was only when they were measured at the end of the journey that their wave-like or particle-like behaviour was brought into existence,' he said.
The colour of 'the dress' also depends on lighting conditions
Comments (972)

ashl0001, Sawtry_Hunts, 3 minutes ago
Perhaps this result and the strange world of quantum electrodynamics (QED) means that we are living in a simulation. This has been postulated by some scientists. The universe (multiverse?) turns out to be part of some alien experiment performed by beings we can never truly understand and for reasons we can never comprehend. No wonder people can never agree about the presence/absence of a deity.
1
1
Click to rate

Blueness, Salford, United Kingdom, 25 minutes ago
So if I close my eyes next time I receive my wage slip the tax will disappear and cease to exist, I think not?
2
10
Click to rate

Tackett Boots, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 27 minutes ago
What about blind people then? Don't they exist?!
0
7
Click to rate

Tackett Boots, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 28 minutes ago
What about blind people then. How do they rationalise their existence.
0
2
Click to rate

a kink, Chesterfield, United Kingdom, 34 minutes ago
Told you the mail was full of bull
3
5
Click to rate

Gurk, hartlepool, United Kingdom, 7 minutes ago
It's beyond your ability to comprehend so it has to be bull?
0
1
Click to rate

Andy HB, Hebden Bridge, 36 minutes ago
The world ceases to exist if you don't look at it? err the scientists said nothing of the sort! DM unable to convey an admittedly difficult concept but still....
0
5
Click to rate

Dave, Devon, United Kingdom, about an hour ago
So if it's not actually there then where actually is it. And where actually am I. Thus if am am not here and you are not there.Regardless I'd rather be here than there and deffo here rather not here.I am the centre of my own universe and all you are just figments of my imagination. And thus I did and did not marry Jennfier Aniston just now. Interesting.
3
4
Click to rate

Shree, New York, United States, about an hour ago
You have it backwards when you said .. 'It proves that measurement is everything. At the quantum level, reality does not exist if you are not looking at it,' said Associate Professor Andrew Truscott. The Truth is exactly the opposite. Reality (the coin) always exists and you perceive reality (the faces) thru measurement. Remember the coin is the whole truth i.e. reality. A face doesn't make a coin. Cheers!
2
4
Click to rate

TOWK, Leeds, United Kingdom, about an hour ago
The world is an image for our eyes to behold, and when our eyes engage the image, our minds invent little stories.
4
2
Click to rate

d2mode2, harlow, United Kingdom, about an hour ago
Scientific proof that God exists? What else could have some sort of concious at the exact point of the big bang, maybe there has to be a god in existence before a universe can come into existence? ??
12
13
Click to rate

Scottie-Dog, Somewhere Up Norf, United Kingdom, about an hour ago
YOUR life can be an illusion if you want it to be. Mines is quite real, and totally unbelievable!
7
5
Click to rate
 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.
Add your comment
Who is this week's top commenter?
Find out now

Copy link to paste in your message

Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3107996/Our-entire-lives-ILLUSION-New-test-backs-theory-reality-doesn-t-exist-look-it.html

Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd

Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
© Associated Newspapers Ltd

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3107996/Our-entire-lives-ILLUSION-New-test-backs-theory-reality-doesn-t-exist-look-it.html#ixzz3c1FX5KwL
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook