The Schizophrenic World of Quantum Interpretations in Golf

Joep – my dear friend,

You probably know that Einstein never accepted the Copenhagen interpretation. As he said

“God does not play dice with the universe.”

And Einstein himself never played golf, only violin. So he surely didn’t have any golf handicap.

And now, your second question: do I think that our golfer with the red dot golf ball(s) can save one of them without a penalty by applying the Copenhagen interpretation?

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. But first, let’s get things straight. In according to Bohr and Heisenberg, representing the Copenhagen interpretation, the wave function of a quantum system contains all possible quantum states. However, when it is measured, its wave function collapse into a single of a multiple number of possible states.

Are we using this as an analogy to our golfers red dot golf ball, then the position of the ball can both be A and B, independent on the initial trajectory. Dependent only on the position of the ball when it was measured (in this case – in the instant moment it was found).

The Copenhagen interpretation makes the outside observer (in this case the golfer) responsible for the ultimate existence as well as the fate of the particle (in our case the golf ball).

Following Bohr and Heisenberg, the only thing our golfer with the red dot golf ball will have to do is to go back to the ball he found himself and place a new ball on or near the place where he left the now disappeared ball, arguing that the ball must have been moved by an outside agency – a baboon or a big bird, for example, while they inspected the red dot golf ball his partner found. In that case, there are no penalty!

To me the Copenhagen folks, basically gives up understanding what’s going on. It’s like when a professional golfer hit his ball into the water and put the blame on his caddie.

But what if we don’t accept the Copenhagen interpretation?

Unlike the Copenhagen Interpretation, the newer Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) insist that the universal wave function doesn’t collapse, because somebody try to measure the particle. 

Everything in the universe is quantum, including ourselves. Therefore, as we interact with parts of the universe, we become entangled with those parts and our reality becomes separated from all other possible parts of the universe associated with that event.

In this case you can say that the golfer with the red dot golf ball is a kind of victim of his own thinking and unintended intentions.

As a matter of fact when he insisted in the differences in the red dots on the two Pro V1 #3 golf balls, he opened up for 2 different future universes.

The one universe represented by the golf ball he gave to his partner because he found that the red dot didn’t really looked 100% like his normal red dots or the other universe represented by the missing golf ball, that could have been moved by an outside agency.

Each of the two red dot golf balls represent a possible future.

In which one he is going to play in is not solely up to himself. I mean; if he wants someone to sign his score card, he will have to come to an agreement with his playing partner.

A referee with a deep knowledge of the Many-Worlds Interpretation may suggest a third alternative part of the universe:

Accept a 2 stroke penalty, go back to the tee and play a new ball, and stay in the same part of the universe you were in when you started the round?