AJ... it might depend on how far in the future the story is set...
Consider the batteries' energy density in even the early Star Trek's phasers!
:)

Or if you've got lots of time to burn...
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=n...

Check on You Tube. Some hobbiest are building up to 3watt Blue Laser that can burn through 1/16 th sheet metal.

Thats definitely in the ballpark of the information I'm after. Yes, I understand that we can detect its phase and that any change in phase will result a change in phase to its other. But to change the phase, precision or not requires something - power of some degree large or small (a laser is light, heat increase or cold is also a degree of power absorption or release) and I need to know primarily if it (the phase changes) can be detected if instrumentation was pointing directly at the object where it was occurring.

Thanks for casting out the net for me.

The meaning I intended is a change in state.

One of our trainers actually graduated from Cal Tech with a degree in Light Optics Physics. I posed him your questions, and he replied:

A "separated quantum particle" sounds like one of a pair of quantum-entangled particles -- you detect the phase, but you don't change it (at least not without also changing the phase of the other). And that's not a question of power, so much as precision. The phase of a single photon can be changed by a single photon -- if it's in the right place at the right time.

If you can provide more details, he is a bit intrigued and is willing to provide a more complete answer.

Jan

I don't think "phase" means what you think it means.

I sent it through your site messaging service. Look to the upper right, by your name there is a globe and a email symbol. The message should be accessible via the email symbol.

I never got your PM. Where did you send it?

I was heading in the direction of

"...is the one unasked."

:)

I sent you a PM.

As a college professor my first rule was "There is no such thing as a dumb question."

Jackpot! Thank you so much.

The only dumb question....

Fine, no problem. I used to teach this stuff.

Thank you! I may drop you a note with a little more specificity if you don't mind. I'm 80% certain I have what I need but I obsess over being plausible when I write.

Thanks again

excellent answer

You could also try posting it on reddit in ELI5 (Explain Like I'm 5).

If I don't put it that way on orbiter I get a boatload of math that is well over my head. :)

Actually the problem is a bit more complicated than that. The "power" of a laser is determined by two things; the photon flux and the wavelength. As it turns out a single photon of the appropriate wavelength can change the "phase" as you put it of a quantum state. The photoelectric effect is a good example of this. Photons of ultraviolet light can dislodge an electron from metal while those of infrared light fail to do so. The power of a laser is related to the product of the photon flux (the number of photons produced per unit time) and the frequency of the photons. The higher the frequency (or the shorter the wavelength) the greater the energy carried by each photon. When this energy is greater than the binding energy of an electron in the outer shell of an atom, usually a metal atom, that electron is "dislodged" and is free to flow in a conducting circuit. This is the underlying principal behind the photomultiplier tube. A blue led or hand held laser pointer produces photons of sufficient energy to stimulate quantum state changes in many materials including phosphors. This is the mechanism behind most "white light" led's.

yeah, you need a lot more detail, I'm afraid. what kind of laser? which phase? what kind of particle?

I see you've already posted it on Orbiter. I'd also suggest quora.com.

>as an element of the novel

I see what you did there. :)

A laser emits photons, which are quantum particles. So, which quantum particles do you want to affect? And what do you mean by "phase"? I think that some more details are needed.

As a little boy growing up, I read the comics and Dick Tracy had the wrist radio in 1946 http://www.dicktracymuseum.com/chester-g...
Star Trek's communicator was a copycat

Top ten star trek technologies that actually came true. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/10-...

Star Trek has been occassionally known to explain things with the "because quantum" explanation.

I'm really thinking of The Secret and What the Bleep Do We Know? When I was in high school I thought there was something to the Tao of Physics.

Speaking of Star Trek, I recently saw The Naked Now from TNG. It was made in '87. One of the characters wanted to find an obscure reference in a book, but he couldn't remember even the subject area of the book. The show treated that as a nearly-impossible problem in 2363. They were surprised to find it after hours of research. Now I can do it in seconds on my phone.

nah, one has to take leaps, thats how we achieve things...look at Star Trek and its impact on shaping current tech.

By the time I commit to the idea I will have it factually sound for my speculation. :)

I don't know the answer either, but it makes me curious about the story.

Is a quantum particle a quark? I thought they didn't exist for long outside being paired up to make protons or neutrons. I'm sure they don't have a phase like regular matter has solid, liquid, gas, plasma, but there is probably some other type of phase.

I don't know much about quantum physics, but I think authors should avoid the temptation to make it the wildcard to explain away anything.