Giovanelli, Marco (2026) The Past of an Electron: Young Popper's Gedankenexperiment Against the Indeterminacy Relations. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Between 1934 and 1936, Popper wrote at least eight manuscripts on the interpretation of quantum mechanics, proposing a Gedankenexperiment based on electron-photon collision in which reconstructing the past trajectory of an electron would allow one, via momentum conservation, to predict both position and momentum of a photon with arbitrary precision, thus apparently 'beating' the indeterminacy relations. Popper corresponded about it with leading physicists such as Weisskopf, Heisenberg, von Weizsäcker, and Einstein, who pointed out the flaws in his reasoning. In retrospect, Popper described these efforts as a "gross mistake". Yet Jammer (1974) suggested that this mistake may have influenced the 1935 Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen argument, while Margenau (1974) credited Popper with anticipating the later distinction between preparation and measurement. Drawing on unpublished material, this paper argues that both claims are doubtful. Popper's thought experiment is more closely related to the 1931 Einstein-Tolman-Podolsky setup, though he reached the opposite conclusion precisely because he misunderstood the link between preparation and measurement. The same 'mistake', the paper concludes, also undermines the EPR-like thought experiment Popper proposed at the turn of the 1980s.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Giovanelli, Marco marco.giovanelli@unito.it 0000-0003-1342-6476
Keywords:	Karl R. Popper; quantum mechanics; uncertainty relations; thought experiments; preparation vs. measurement
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Mathematics > History of Philosophy General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics General Issues > Thought Experiments
Depositing User:	Dr. Marco Giovanelli
Date Deposited:	18 Apr 2026 19:01
Last Modified:	18 Apr 2026 19:01
Item ID:	29243
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Mathematics > History of Philosophy General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics General Issues > Thought Experiments
Date:	April 2026
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/29243

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