2991: Beamsplitters - Revision history

Kynde: more on news

2026-02-08T17:56:07Z

Kynde: Category:News

2026-02-07T15:07:52Z

Category:News

Amateurautist at 15:50, 4 November 2025

2025-11-04T15:50:17Z

67.247.105.116: /* Explanation */

2025-08-09T01:57:17Z

‎Explanation

Natg19: /* Transcript */ cat

2025-08-08T22:07:49Z

‎Transcript: cat

162.158.137.211: Undo revision 356898 by NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE (talk) rv vandalism

2024-11-14T23:52:28Z

Undo revision 356898 by NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE (talk) rv vandalism

NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE at 23:39, 14 November 2024

2024-11-14T23:39:32Z

172.70.207.96: /* Explanation */ reason

2024-10-09T00:27:05Z

‎Explanation: reason

172.69.194.225 at 07:36, 8 October 2024

2024-10-08T07:36:02Z

162.158.90.152: /* Explanation */ hope this is a better explanation of the quantum tax law

2024-10-02T09:55:42Z

‎Explanation: hope this is a better explanation of the quantum tax law

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:56, 8 February 2026
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
		+	This is one of the [[:Category:News\|News]] comics, delivering Astronomy news.
		+
	A {{w\|beamsplitter}} is a device, usually made from a pair of prisms or a half-silvered mirror, that splits a beam of light into two beams going in different directions. Beamsplitters are used in numerous scientific instruments such as microscopes and (here) telescopes. In a microscope, for example, a beamsplitter may be used to direct the imaging beam to the user's eyes, or to a recording device such as a camera, or to both at once so as to allow visual aiming at specific targets at the same time as conducting scientific measurements upon them. Beam-splitting in order to simultaneously analyse a single 'ray' of light with two or more different types of detectors is also scientifically useful.		A {{w\|beamsplitter}} is a device, usually made from a pair of prisms or a half-silvered mirror, that splits a beam of light into two beams going in different directions. Beamsplitters are used in numerous scientific instruments such as microscopes and (here) telescopes. In a microscope, for example, a beamsplitter may be used to direct the imaging beam to the user's eyes, or to a recording device such as a camera, or to both at once so as to allow visual aiming at specific targets at the same time as conducting scientific measurements upon them. Beam-splitting in order to simultaneously analyse a single 'ray' of light with two or more different types of detectors is also scientifically useful.

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 {{comic discussion}}
 [[Category:Astronomy]]
 [[Category:Telescopes]]
 [[Category:Physics]]
 [[Category:Taxes]]

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 :[Cross section of a telescope with some parts of the image darkened to represent the path of light, with portions where the light would be more concentrated being darker]
-:[Labels with arrows as they appear left to right, top to bottom:]
+:[A large column of light comes in from the left panel border, labeled "Incoming Light."]
-:Incoming Light
+:[The "Incoming Light" column is focused by a large curved mirror labeled "Primary Mirror," then focused again by a much smaller mirror labeled "Secondary Mirror."]
-:Primary Mirror
+:[After bouncing off the secondary mirror, it passes through a beamsplitter. Half of the light passes through to a sensor, but the other half is reflected into a secret Solar Panel connected to a battery labeled "Power sold to grid."]
 :[Caption below the panel:]

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 The telescope shown, without the beam splitter, is a reflecting telescope of the general form of a {{w|Gregorian telescope}}, or a derivative, while the sending of (a fraction of) the light out the side is implemented in the manner of a {{w|Nasmyth telescope}}.
-The title text humorously conflates financial tax laws, applicable to the sale of the {{w|Abstracting electricity|"stolen" electricity}}, with the laws of quantum physics, governing the behavior of the photons that are generating the electricity. Under typical {{w|Capital_gain|capital gains}} tax laws, certain intangible assets such as stocks are not taxed until they are sold, at which point taxes will be levied on the profits of the sale (relative to the asset's purchase price). This is typically done to simplify tax assessment, as it can be very difficult to assign a concrete value (and thus tax burden) to certain assets until they are sold and the value realized.
+The title text humorously conflates financial tax laws, applicable to the sale of the {{w|Abstracting electricity|"stolen" electricity}}, with the laws of quantum physics, governing the behavior of the photons that are generating the electricity. Under typical {{w|Capital_gain|capital gains}} tax laws, certain intangible assets such as stocks are not taxed until they are sold, at which point taxes will be levied on the profits of the sale (relative to the asset's purchase price). This is typically done to simplify tax assessment, as it can be very difficult to assign a concrete value (and thus tax burden) to certain assets until they are sold and the value realized. It is also typically done for reasons of liquidity; a taxpayer may have insufficient cash to pay a tax until they have sold the underlying assets.
 The title text imagines a fictional "quantum tax law" in which individual photons are treated as taxable assets. Due to the probabilistic nature of the photon's {{w|Wave_function|wave function}}, the monetary value of any given photon entering the telescope is uncertain up until the point where it strikes the photovoltaic cell, generating an electron which is sold to the power grid. Under the quantum tax law, the "wavefunction" of the photon refers not to its traditional quantum {{w|Wave_function|wave function}}, but to the monetary wavefunction which can only be observed once the photon has generated a tangible profit. This is likely an analogy with {{w|capital gains tax}} which does not accrue until assets are sold at a profit over their purchase price.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:07, 8 August 2025
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	[[Category:Telescopes]]		[[Category:Telescopes]]
	[[Category:Physics]]		[[Category:Physics]]
		+	[[Category:Taxes]]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 | image     = beamsplitters_2x.png
 | imagesize = 479x385px
-| noexpand  = true NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE NOTRUMPWON2024MAGAFORLIFE
+| noexpand  = true
 | titletext = Under quantum tax law, photons sent through a beamsplitter don't actually choose which path they took, or incur a tax burden, until their wavefunction collapses when the power is sold.
 }}

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:36, 8 October 2024
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	{{incomplete\|Created by a SOLAR PANEL HIDDEN DEEP IN MEDIAWIKI'S HQ - More on title text and the colapse of wavefunction correlation with to whom and when tax should be paid. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
	A {{w\|beamsplitter}} is a device, usually made from a pair of prisms or a half-silvered mirror, that splits a beam of light into two beams going in different directions. Beamsplitters are used in numerous scientific instruments such as microscopes and (here) telescopes. In a microscope, for example, a beamsplitter may be used to direct the imaging beam to the user's eyes, or to a recording device such as a camera, or to both at once so as to allow visual aiming at specific targets at the same time as conducting scientific measurements upon them. Beam-splitting in order to simultaneously analyse a single 'ray' of light with two or more different types of detectors is also scientifically useful.		A {{w\|beamsplitter}} is a device, usually made from a pair of prisms or a half-silvered mirror, that splits a beam of light into two beams going in different directions. Beamsplitters are used in numerous scientific instruments such as microscopes and (here) telescopes. In a microscope, for example, a beamsplitter may be used to direct the imaging beam to the user's eyes, or to a recording device such as a camera, or to both at once so as to allow visual aiming at specific targets at the same time as conducting scientific measurements upon them. Beam-splitting in order to simultaneously analyse a single 'ray' of light with two or more different types of detectors is also scientifically useful.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 The telescope shown, without the beam splitter, is a reflecting telescope of the general form of a {{w|Gregorian telescope}}, or a derivative, while the sending of (a fraction of) the light out the side is implemented in the manner of a {{w|Nasmyth telescope}}.
-The title text humorously conflates financial tax laws, applicable to the sale of the {{w|Abstracting electricity|"stolen" electricity}}, with the laws of quantum physics, governing the behavior of the photons that are generating the electricity. Photons "don't actually choose which path they took" because, as quanta, their positions {{w|Uncertainty_principle|cannot be accurately determined}} until they interact with the external world and are {{w|Observer_(quantum_physics)|observed}}. The observer is the photovoltaic cell, and the observation consists of the generation of an electron by the photon. According to the {{w|Wave_function|wave function}} model of quantum physics, the observation reduces (or seems to reduce) the number of possible positions of the photon at the time of the observation to one (the {{w|Wave_function_collapse|"wave function collapse"}}). Since electrons can be described in terms of classical physics, their positions and momentum can be known - and therefore the electrons can be sold, paid for, and taxed. By inference, under "quantum tax law" (which is fictional) so can the photons that produced the electrons.
+The title text humorously conflates financial tax laws, applicable to the sale of the {{w|Abstracting electricity|"stolen" electricity}}, with the laws of quantum physics, governing the behavior of the photons that are generating the electricity. Under typical {{w|Capital_gain|capital gains}} tax laws, certain intangible assets such as stocks are not taxed until they are sold, at which point taxes will be levied on the profits of the sale (relative to the asset's purchase price). This is typically done to simplify tax assessment, as it can be very difficult to assign a concrete value (and thus tax burden) to certain assets until they are sold and the value realized.
 ==Transcript==