Interference is Controlled by Prediction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65649/pt1hx971Keywords:
Interference, Complementarity, Delayed-Choice Experiments, Which-Path Information, PredictabilityAbstract
Interference phenomena are commonly understood as consequences of path indistinguishability and coherence constrained by the availability of which-path information. While delayed-choice and quantum eraser experiments have demonstrated that interference can be restored or suppressed depending on measurement context, such effects are typically implemented through discrete, externally imposed experimental configurations. In this work, propose a delayed-choice interferometric scheme in which interference visibility is regulated adaptively via predictive estimates of informational accessibility. The proposed architecture introduces an operational measure of predictability derived from ensemble-level intensity statistics, which is used to control downstream interferometric elements after the system has traversed the interferometer. This design preserves the delayed-choice character of the experiment while avoiding any modification of standard quantum mechanical formalism or assumptions of retrocausality. Predictability is treated as an informational control parameter rather than as an intrinsic property of the system’s past evolution. The scheme builds upon established complementarity relations and information-theoretic approaches to coherence and decoherence, extending them toward adaptive, feedback-based control of interference. The proposal is experimentally accessible using classical or semi-classical optical components and does not rely on single-particle detection. By reframing interference as a dynamically regulated informational regime, the work provides a bridge between foundational concepts of quantum measurement and practical architectures for coherence control.
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