In the famous double slit experiment, setting up a measurement device that watches which slit an electron passes through changes the eventual outcome on the screen, causing the wave function to collapse.
If the measurement device were a light year away and were precise enough to “zoom in” and see which slit the electrons went through, what would happen on the final screen?
Surely, if the measurement device were off, then the electrons would behave like waves and not particles. An interference pattern would appear on the final screen as there is no observer. On the other hand, if someone a light year away turned on the measurement device, this far-away person (and the measurement device) wouldn’t know which slit the electrons went through until a year later. And, the electrons going through the slits wouldn’t “know” they are being observed because no information (ie the measurement device turning on) can travel faster than the speed of light.
When you say zoom in, what you are actually asking is what if the wall was a light year away, and you’re building the delayed choice version of the experiment, details here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed-choice_quantum_eraser
But basically, the universe knows, and you can’t worm your way around it.if you detect which slit the photons flow through, then you lose the interference pattern.
