What Does Atom Loss Establish? Evidential Boundaries of Physical-Carrier Claims in Neutral-Atom Tweezer Experiments
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: This preprint examines what physical claims are, and are not, licensed by an operational atom-loss record in neutral-atom optical-tweezer experiments. It distinguishes measurement indication, physical trap exit, declared-role unavailability, exit from a larger apparatus, specified post-loss events, processor recovery, and claims about the subsequent history of the original atomic carrier. Using explicit countermodels and contemporary neutral-atom loss-detection and replacement protocols, it shows that establishing trap exit does not by itself establish stronger downstream claims about the original atom, and that processor recovery through replacement does not constitute continuation of the original carrier. The analysis is intended as a domain-specific audit of evidential scope rather than a new theory of measurement or a criticism of existing neutral-atom protocols.
Author: Panasenko, Dmytro
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7203917828
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