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Measurement-induced Entanglement and the Theory of Objectivity

Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: This article develops an expanded critical–propositional analysis of C. W. Chou and col- laborators’ 2005 experiment, Measurement-Induced Entanglement for Excitation Stored in Remote Atomic Ensembles, in systematic dialogue with the Theory of Objectivity (TO), developed by Vidamor Cabannas and Denivaldo Silva. Chou et al. (2005) experi- mentally demonstrated entanglement between two spatially separated atomic ensembles by exploiting quantum interference and indistinguishable photon detection. A single collective spin excitation was shared between ensembles separated by approximately 2.8 m and distributed over roughly 105 atoms at each site. After a programmable storage interval of approximately 1 µs, the atomic state was mapped onto propagating optical fields, allowing the experimenters to evaluate conditional photon statistics, mutual coherence, interference visibility, and lower bounds for concurrence. The measured interference visibilities reached approximately 70±2% and 71±2%, while the conditional two-photon parameters were substantially below their uncon- ditioned counterparts. Positive lower bounds for concurrence supplied quantitative evidence of entanglement. Chou et al. additionally demonstrated that, when the photon- emission alternatives were rendered distinguishable through orthogonal polarizations, the interference associated with the stored coherence was strongly suppressed (Chou et al. 2005). The analysis distinguishes three epistemological levels: (1) empirical confirmation of quantum phenomena; (2) structural compatibility between those phenomena and categories of TO; and (3) specific empirical confirmation capable of discriminating TO-derived predictions from standard quantum mechanics. The experiment clearly satisfies the first level and provides unusually rich material for the second, particularly regarding TO’s categories of boundary/interface (VA4), triangular or simultaneous observation (VA5), composition from prior elements (VA6), and the transcendent element, understood in TO as information or knowledge produced in atomic relations and associated with atomic radiation (VA7). The experiment does not, however, reach the third epistemological level, because the reported observations are quantitatively accommodated by standard quantum mechanics and quantum optics. The central proposition advanced here is that the Chou experiment nevertheless offers one of the most productive existing experimental platforms for developing operational bridges between TO and contemporary quantum physics. Its controlled sequence—optical writing, atomic collective excitation, information storage, conditional measurement, and optical retrieval—establishes a physical transformation chain connecting atomic relations, stored information, and radiation. This chain is strongly compatible with TO’s emphasis on relational constitution and information-bearing atomic processes. Yet convertibility between material and optical quantum information must not be confused with an experimentally established ontological identity between information and radiation. That distinction represents both the strongest point of dialogue and the most important point of tension. The article consequently proposes possible TO-specific extensions of Chou-type experiments, including residual-radiation tests during storage, boundary-dependent coherence tests, and quantitative comparisons between standard quantum-mechanical predictions and hypothetical TO correction terms. Such tests could move the discussion from philosophical compatibility toward discriminating empirical contact. Keywords: Theory of Objectivity; quantum entanglement; atomic ensembles; quantum memory; information; radiation; measurement; boundaries; concurrence; DLCZ; modal ontology; empirical testability.
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/a4hx2
Language: English
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W7204269992
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