bennyboy,
I'll first try to think about the following: what if the measurement machine just saves the result internally but remains completely isolated from you. What this then means is that a pretty macroscopic system like the measurement device becomes entangled with the photon state. I suspect that this alone will suppress the interference effects on the screen by a factor dependent on the # of particles in the device (in mathematical lingo one would say the off diagonal entries of the density matrix are suppressed) but I am not 100% sure. Only when I have understood this question, can I sensibly address yours. We then have to consider how the symbols corresponding to outcomes are chosen, and how they are communicated to the outside world.
I'll first try to think about the following: what if the measurement machine just saves the result internally but remains completely isolated from you. What this then means is that a pretty macroscopic system like the measurement device becomes entangled with the photon state. I suspect that this alone will suppress the interference effects on the screen by a factor dependent on the # of particles in the device (in mathematical lingo one would say the off diagonal entries of the density matrix are suppressed) but I am not 100% sure. Only when I have understood this question, can I sensibly address yours. We then have to consider how the symbols corresponding to outcomes are chosen, and how they are communicated to the outside world.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
