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Testing Human Free Will via a Delayed-Choice Quantum Eraser: A Proposal for an Experimental Protocol

Chakir Fikri

Published Aug 26, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The question of human free will has remained a central philosophi- cal challenge for millennia. In physics, the issue of determinism versus indeterminism resurfaces in quantum mechanics, where measurement choices play a key role. In this work, we propose an experimental pro- tocol inspired by delayed-choice quantum eraser experiments, in which the random switching of measurement settings is not performed by a quantum random number generator (QRNG), but instead by human participants making rapid spontaneous choices. If human choices are fundamentally unpredictable in a way that is not reducible to quantum determinism, then the universal wave function could not have encoded them prior to the decision event. By introducing quantum memories to extend the decision window and ensuring strict separation and blind- ness of participants, this experiment could test whether interference patterns depend on genuinely free human choices or behave identically to QRNG-based protocols. A violation of standard quantum predic- tions would have profound consequences for physics, philosophy, and neuroscience.

DOI
10.20944/preprints202508.1837.v1

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The question of human free will has remained a central philosophi- cal challenge for millennia. In physics, the issue of determinism versus indeterminism resurfaces in quantum mechanics, where measurement choices play a key role. In this work, we propose an experimental pro- tocol inspired by delayed-choice quantum eraser experiments, in which the random switching of measurement settings is not performed by a quantum random number generator (QRNG), but instead by human participants making rapid spontaneous choices. If human choices are fundamentally unpredictable in a way that is not reducible to quantum determinism, then the universal wave function could not have encoded them prior to the decision event. By introducing quantum memories to extend the decision window and ensuring strict separation and blind- ness of participants, this experiment could test whether interference patterns depend on genuinely free human choices or behave identically to QRNG-based protocols. A violation of standard quantum predic- tions would have profound consequences for physics, philosophy, and neuroscience.
The question of human free will has remained a central philosophical challenge for millennia. In physics, the issue of determinism versus indeterminism resurfaces in quantum mechanics, where measurement choices play a key role. In this work, we propose an experimental protocol inspired by delayed-choice quantum eraser experiments, in which the random switching of measurement settings is not performed by a quantum random number generator (QRNG), but instead by human participants making rapid spontaneous choices. If human choices are fundamentally unpredictable in a way that is not reducible to quantum mechanics or physical determinism, then the universal wave function could not have encoded them prior to the decision event. By introducing quantum memories to extend the decision window and ensuring strict separation and blindness of participants, this experiment could test whether interference patterns depend on genuinely free human choices or yield results identical to QRNG-based protocols.
The question of human free will has remained a central philosophical challenge for millennia. In physics, the issue of determinism versus indeterminism resurfaces in quantum mechanics, where measurement choices play a key role. In this work, we propose an experimental protocol inspired by delayed-choice quantum eraser experiments, in which the random switching of measurement settings is not performed by a quantum random number generator (QRNG), but instead by human participants making rapid spontaneous choices. If human choices are fundamentally unpredictable in a way that is not reducible to quantum mechanics or physical determinism, then the universal wave function could not have encoded them prior to the decision event. By introducing quantum memories to extend the decision window and ensuring strict separation and blindness of participants, this experiment could test whether interference patterns depend on genuinely free human choices or yield results identical to QRNG-based protocols.
An operationally well-defined delayed-choice quantum-eraser experiment is proposed, realizing a genuine delayed choice within presently available quantum-optical technology. A multimode quantum memory supplies a controlled and verifiable delay, ensuring that the choice operation is applied strictly after the observation event. Electronic single-photon interference detection measurements furnish a direct statistical discriminator between the causal and informational coherence hypotheses, based solely on marginal detection statistics and without any post-selection.
Ever since the proposal of delayed choice quantum erasure and subsequent realization in the experiment by Kim et al., the interpretation and implications of delayed-choice experiments have remained a subject of intense foundational debate. This paper resolves the apparent paradox attached to the experiment using standard quantum mechanics. Using an extended Mach-Zehnder interferometer which captures every operational feature of the original experiment, we show that choosing between which-path and erasure detectors is simply a choice of measurement bases, which does not rewrite a photon's past. Furthermore, by mapping the experiment to a two-way Stern-Gerlach framework, we prove that quantum erasure is an expected result of measuring entangled states, not a physical anomaly. Ultimately, through a pedagogical game, we illustrate that the illusion of retrocausality arises from asking illegitimate questions, and that a forward-in-time description is entirely sufficient to explain the logic.
The Delayed-Choice Quantum Eraser experiment is commonly interpreted as implying that in quantum mechanics a choice made at one time can influence an earlier event. We here suggest an extension of the experiment that results in a paradox when analysed in a local realist interpretation combined with backward causation (``dynamical retrocausality''). We argue that resolving the paradox requires giving up the idea that, in quantum mechanics, a choice can influence the past in this way, and that it instead requires a violation of Statistical Independence without (what most people think of as) retrocausality. Finally, we propose an implementation of the experiment that we believe to be possible with existing technology. This new experiment can distinguish between different types of hidden-variables theories in a way that Bell-type tests cannot: unlike in a Bell test, the measurement setting here is set by an earlier outcome, which makes the consistency of the backwards influence itself testable. We classify the fixed-point (consistency-enforcing) hidden-variables models of the experiment, which can reproduce quantum mechanics only if the backwards influence has no observable effect.
The principle of complementarity is one of the cornerstones of quantum theory. The aim of this study was to advance our understanding of complementarity by analyzing the role of delayed choice and quantum erasers in two-slit experiments, and by proposing experiments for verifying the analysis. The analysis is based on models consisting of measurable spaces and probability measures involved in the experiments. The main findings are as follows: (a) The complementarity principle manifests itself in such a way that wave and particle behaviors cannot be simultaneously observed almost surely with respect to any single, fixed measure. (b) Described by different measures, complementary properties can coexist in the same experimental setup. (c) Which-way information will not preclude or erase interference fringes. (d) Delayed choice and quantum erasers are irrelevant to testing complementarity. (e) It is possible for us to know through which slit each quantum object passed almost surely with respect to the measure corresponding to the slit while the interference pattern is intact. Based on the experiments analyzed, realizable experiments are proposed for verifying the above results.