Abstract Experiments involving delayed-choice entanglement swapping seem to suggest that particles can become entangled after they've already been detected. This astonishing result is taken by some to undermine realism about entanglement. In this paper, I argue that one can offer a fully realist explanation of delayed-choice entanglement swapping by countenancing timelike entanglement relations. I argue that such an explanation—radical though it may be—isn't incoherent and doesn't invite paradox. I compare this approach to the antirealist alternative and a more deflationary realist strategy defended by Egg (2013), each of which face certain challenges. The upshot is that we should take seriously the possibility of timelike entanglement and seek to develop a framework for quantum theory which allows for it.

中文翻译：

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时变纠缠用于延迟选择纠缠交换

摘要涉及延迟选择纠缠交换的实验似乎表明，粒子在被检测到之后可能会发生纠缠。这种惊人的结果被某些人用来破坏关于纠缠的现实主义。在本文中，我认为可以通过增加像时间一样的纠缠关系来提供对延迟选择纠缠交换的完全现实主义解释。我认为，这样的解释（尽管可能是激进的）并不是连贯的，也不会引起悖论。我将这种方法与反现实主义替代方案以及鸡蛋（Egg，2013年）捍卫的通货紧缩现实主义策略进行了比较，每种策略都面临某些挑战。结果是我们应该认真考虑类似时间的纠缠的可能性，并寻求开发一个允许这种情况的量子理论框架。