Quantum Experiments That Changed Interpretation: A Historical and Theoretical Review

Quantum mechanics has continually challenged our understanding of reality. Throughoutits history, pivotal experiments have forced physicists to reconsider and refine how we inter-pret the theory’s mathematical formalism. This review surveys a series of landmark quantumexperiments from the early 20th century to the present day, examining how each experimentaltered the landscape of quantum interpretations. Beginning with the foundational phenomenathat necessitated the quantum hypothesis, we move through classic tests of wave-particle du-ality and the role of observation. We then explore the profound implications of entanglementvia Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations and Bell’s theorem, along with the experiments thatultimately confirmed quantum nonlocality. Further, we discuss delayed-choice and quantumeraser experiments that probe the interplay of measurement and reality, multi-particle interfer-ence tests that go beyond Bell’s inequalities, and increasingly ambitious e!orts to push quantumphenomena to macroscopic scales. By analyzing these experiments and the theoretical debatessurrounding them, we illustrate how experimental evidence has driven the evolution of inter-pretations of quantum mechanics. In doing so, we highlight the ongoing dialogue betweenexperimental insight and philosophical interpretation in quantum physics.