Slideshow: Do-It-Yourself Quantum Eraser

This slideshow is part of a package that supplements our story on quantum erasure in the May issue of Scientific American

By Graham P. Collins

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• View the slideshow of quantum erasure in action

• Discuss the experiment in the blog

Quantum effects are not usually the kind of thing you expect to see around the house, but the May issue of Scientific American includes an experiment you can do at home that illustrates the odd phenomenon known as quantum erasure.

All it requires are a laser pointer, some polarizing film and a few household objects. You can check out the slideshow to see how it's done, discuss your efforts in the blog, or explore the supplementary material we didn't have room for in the print version of the article, including some sources of polarizing film, tips on overcoming possible problems, additional experiments you can conduct and more background on the physics involved:

• What You Will Need For the Experiment

• What Polarizers Do To Photons

• How A Quantum Eraser Works

• Notes on Polarizing Film

• Troubleshooting the Experiment

• More Experiments

• Answer to the 3-Polarizer Puzzle Featured in the Print Edition

• Whither Waves? More About Interference

• Cutting-Edge Experiments: Interfering Soccer Balls

• Delayed-Choice Experiments

• What Do the Quantum Particles Really Do?

• What is Being Erased?

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