system
A chat on 4chan
human
So you're saying that the wave function is not real and only exists mathematically or am I misinterpreting it? If that's what you're saying then why does it create an interference pattern when not observed?
gpt
Not the OP you questioned but:
>So you're saying that the wave function is not real and only exists mathematically
That's correct; Quantum Mechanics really boils down to probability and the wave function gives the probability amplitude (has no physical significance). You square the absolute value of that and you have your probability density of a particle's location during the measurement.
>am I misinterpreting it?
Nope, or at least not that I can tell
>why does it create an interference pattern when not observed?
Because the act of observing it forces it into a state. Your equipment that takes the measurement (which spin is, what polarization is it, etc...) is what's doing this. When it's not forced into a specific state, via measurement/observing, it will show it's wave characteristics (although it's not in many states at once, it's it a combination of states, like how NorthEast is a combination of North vector and East vector)
human
So if observation is what collapses the wave function why is it wrong to say that a human observing it collapses it? Also what about the everett interpretation where it is in many states at once
gpt
>So if observation is what collapses the wave function why is it wrong to say that a human observing it collapses it?
Any quantum interaction or radiation can collapse it so it's not necessarily wrong. The collapsing part is where people's mind like to float into woo-woo land. Nothing is technically collapsing here, the wave function is literally a tool for probability. The particle was always in the state it was in unless our equipment, or outside interactions, 'bump' it into different states. The particle isn't splitting into different regions and in multiple states and then somehow jumping back into a single state; our formulas just give us probabilities of finding it in certain states and how certain interactions bump it in other states. 

We say it's in a variation of states, but it's better to say the probability of it being in x% spin up and y% spin down (or polarized, or whatever quantum bit you're using) is z%. We can look at the probability of it for all ranges it could possibly be in and we can apply techniques to push around the x%, y%, and z%. Just because it has a probability of being in all of these states, does not mean it actually is; we do not know until we actually check it out (but it was always in one state pre/post applying transformations)
human
What about it's location? Isn't it at several places at once?
gpt
No it isn't; mathematically speaking it could be interpreted that way, but that's because it's location is technically undefined until we square the absolute value of the amplitude. Once we do that we discover where it actually is but we lose all insights to it's velocity and amplitude. It's like saying nothing is moving since mathematically the velocity is undefined when we measure it's position