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Volume 12: Pages 499-507, 1999

An Alternative to Quantum Mechanics Part I: The Experiment of Pfleegor and Mandel

L. Kocis

Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Isles Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland 4068 Australia

The Pfleegor‐Mandel experiment showing the interference between two beams coming from two independent lasers is reviewed. It is argued that the interference fringes detected by Pfleegor and Mandel may not be caused by the interference, which is an interaction between the two beams. Instead of the interference between the two beams coming from two lasers, the following is suggested. The photons coming from the first laser interact with the environment of the path leading from the second laser, and the photons coming from the second laser interact with the environment of the path leading from the first laser. A modification of the Pfleegor‐Mandel experiment that eliminates the possible interaction with the path from the other laser is proposed.

Keywords: interference at single photon levels, interference of two independent laser beams, Copenhagen interpretation, causality

Received: May 10, 1999; Published online: December 15, 2008