I propose adding a Gate to the standard Mach-Zehnder interferometer setup, as shown in this diagram:
http://www.robsdot.co.uk/machzehn.gif(When this gate is closed, nothing can pass it.)
When this gate is permanently open, any particles sent through this sequence will _always_ appear in the S detector.
If on the other hand, you close the Gate (blocking out the lower-left mirror), then any particles sent through this will be able to enter either of the detectors.
My idea is that we send a particle (say a photon) through this setup; but immediately after it has passed the first beam splitter, the gate opens.
And my question: In which detector will the particle enter?
(Is the path of the particle defined as soon as it is fired from the particle source, in which case it could go into either U or S? Or would it (when it 'splits into two particles') pass through the gate, and ultimately interefere with itself, resulting in it only ever entering the S detector?)
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