EPR-paradoxon.

[Reinhart Frosch <reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx>]

A question to List members interested in physics
(sorry, I am on no physics List):

A spinless particle (e.g., an uncharged pi-meson), at rest
above Paris, decays into two photons. The first of these
photons is detected at a place 100 km north of Paris and
is found to spin to the right (event A). The second photon
flies in the opposite direction and is detected at a place
100 km south of Paris (event B). In the rest system of Paris,
events A and B are simultaneous. The observer A can
predict with certainty that the photon at B is also found
to spin to the right (since the two spins add up to the
pi-meson spin, which is zero).

On page 123 of his recent book "The Universe in a Nutshell",
Stephen Hawking writes: "Einstein thought that this proved
that quantum theory was ridiculous. [...] However, most
scientists agree that it was Einstein who was confused, not
quantum theory. The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment
does not show that one is able to send information faster than light.
One cannot CHOOSE that one's own particle be measured to be
spinning to the right, [...]"

In the new German best-selling biography "Einstein" by Jürgen
Neffe, the EPR-paradoxon is however claimed to be a valuable
contribution. The undersigned believes that Hawking wins.
Is my opinion really shared by most scientists?

Reinhart Frosch,
CH-5200 Brugg.
reinifrosch@xxxxxxxxxx