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wave-particle duality | Wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/53959/wave-particle-duality | <p>I have been trying to understand "wave-particle duality" and other cases related to it. I am currently a college level student. I have few question which I am not getting answers clearly. </p>
<p>In double slit experiment, A particle behave like a wave, then how is "wave-particle duality" explained? I mean, If the ... | <p>This <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_slit_experiment#With_particle_detectors_at_the_slits" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikipedia article</a> has a double slit experiment with individual electrons which really shows the particle/wave duality.</p>
<p>What one should keep clear in one's head is that</p>
<p>a)... | 600 |
wave-particle duality | Wave particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/500353/wave-particle-duality | <p>Can someone please explain wave particle duality for large bodies? Why don't large bodies exhibit wave like nature for example if I am walking with some momentum, the wavelength associated with me is <span class="math-container">$h/p$</span> what does this mean?</p>
| <p>de Broglie wave length is defined as : <span class="math-container">$$\lambda _{B}={\frac {h}{p}}$$</span>
So if for example your mass is 60 kg and you are moving with a sports car with a speed of 200 km/h, then <em>your</em> de Broglie wave-length <a href="https://calistry.org/calculate/deBroglieEquation" rel="nofo... | 601 |
wave-particle duality | What is wave particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/101049/what-is-wave-particle-duality | <p>I am sort of confused about this. Wave particle duality says that sub atomic particles are waves. There is something more though. What is the actual meaning of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality" rel="nofollow">wave particle duality</a>?</p>
| <p><a href="https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/100458/38111">I answered a question related to this a few days ago</a>, so I suppose I'll try to summarize it here.</p>
<p>Wave particle duality doesn't really say that waves <em>are</em> particles. It says that "particles" aren't really particles, nor are they really wa... | 602 |
wave-particle duality | Matter's wave-particle duality - true? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/268360/matters-wave-particle-duality-true | <p>I had an interesting conversation with CuriousOne the other day about the question <a href="https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/268250/experiment-that-demonstrates-the-wave-particle-duality-of-electrons/268252#268252">Experiment that demonstrates the wave-particle duality of electrons</a>. I thought that wav... | <p>Yes, there is a duality and in the framework of quantum field theory (QFT) it is not even a contradiction at all. It seems pretty natural.</p>
<p>All fields and particles are treated very similarly in the QFT language. Both are fields in space-time, so “waves”. There is a suble difference in the <em>spin statistics... | 603 |
wave-particle duality | Photons-Wave/particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/69954/photons-wave-particle-duality | <p>I know that photons and electrons and such are said to have a wave particle duality, but what does that mean for a photon? When light strikes an object, are many photons emitted, enough to draw infinitely many rays, is only one emitted, or something in between?</p>
<p>In particular, I'm having trouble with thin fil... | <p>Anna v's answer is entirely correct, but a simple explanation to merely the thin-film problem is that rays are really waves that have width, so they overlap.
<img src="https://www.ualberta.ca/~pogosyan/teaching/PHYS_130/images/1000px-Refraction_-_Huygens-Fresnel_principle.svg.png" alt="plane wave refracting"></p>
<... | 604 |
wave-particle duality | Wave Particle Duality - Weight? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/205852/wave-particle-duality-weight | <p>Regards the issue of wave particle duality and the double slit experiment. </p>
<p>If the experiment was run with the ’screen’ and detector as a 'box', with electrons being sent into the box from an external source and this box was placed on a set of scales and measurements taken before and after the experiment. <... | <p>If you distribute the boxes at various positions and placed them on scales, then over time boxes would one by one get heavier. </p>
<p>And eventually you would notice that some boxes got much more heavy than others. There would be regions where the boxes got lots heaver and region where the boxes only got a little ... | 605 |
wave-particle duality | wave-particle duality and entanglement | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/109853/wave-particle-duality-and-entanglement | <p>By fundamental definition of a entangled system we can say that if we know the quantum state of one subsystem then we can describe the state of another subsystem.
A particle possess wave-particle duality. If one experiment verify the wave nature of particle then we can not see its particle behaviour in same exp and ... | <p>No they are different things.</p>
<p><strong>Entanglement:</strong></p>
<p>Imagine that you are in lab, you have two electron spin measuring devices and you have a particle which has spin 0.
after few seconds it decays into two electrons. After you will measure first electron's spin and for example device says th... | 606 |
wave-particle duality | Questions on wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/22685/questions-on-wave-particle-duality | <p>Wave-particle duality states that a particle has both wave properties and particle properties when one is <em>not</em> observing it.</p>
<p>1) What is an observer? Need it be anything living or can other particles also act as observers?</p>
<p>2) When doing the electron double slit experiment--shooting just one el... | <p>The wave particle duality is a man-made simple solution to understand the properties of electron/photon. The wave-particle duality does NOT say that a particle has both a wave property and a particle property when NOT observing it.. it in fact says that to understand the properties of a particle, one must consider i... | 607 |
wave-particle duality | Does sound show wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/202058/does-sound-show-wave-particle-duality | <p>We know that light and electrons both show wave-particle duality. Or in other words we can say that they can be both seen as a wave and a particle. Can a similar theory be applicable for sound? Can sound also be explained as a particle as well as a wave?</p>
| <p>The notion you should look up and learn about is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonon" rel="nofollow">phonon</a>. It is a quasiparticle that arises in the quantum description of acoustics in condensed matter. The description is simplest and clearest in regular lattices of atoms / quantum particles, so i... | 608 |
wave-particle duality | Interpreting wave-particle duality due to wave crests | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/471025/interpreting-wave-particle-duality-due-to-wave-crests | <p>I have been thinking a lot about the double slit experiment and am wondering whether any theorist has ever considered the following interpretation for wave-particle duality:</p>
<p>Could the reason we sometimes detect particles actually be because we are detecting the crest of the wave? This interpretation would s... | <p>No. No interpretations of quantum mechanics consider wave crests to be particles. And for good reason: this interpretation doesn’t work.</p>
<p>Consider the ground state of a particle in a 3D box. The wavefunction is a standing wave with its crest at the center of the box. But if you measure where the particle is i... | 609 |
wave-particle duality | Does String Theory explain wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/89383/does-string-theory-explain-wave-particle-duality | <p>Does string theory explain the weird things that happens at the quantum level, especially wave-particle duality? </p>
| <p>I do not think so. As a matter of fact strings must be "quantized" to produce "quantum" physics. So the quantum structure (including all apparently weird things) is assumed <em>a priori</em> even dealing with strings. It is deeper than string theory.</p>
| 610 |
wave-particle duality | Is the wave-particle duality a real duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/46237/is-the-wave-particle-duality-a-real-duality | <p>I often hear about the wave-particle duality, and how particles exhibit properties of both particles and waves. However, I wonder, is this actually a duality? At the most fundamental level, we 'know' that everything is made up out of particles, whether those are photons, electrons, or maybe even strings. That light ... | <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duality">Duality</a> is the relationship between two entities that are claimed to be fundamentally equally important or legitimate as features of the underlying object.</p>
<p>The precise definition of a "duality" depends on the context. For example, in string theory, a duality... | 611 |
wave-particle duality | Does wave-particle duality exist for gravitational waves? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/235587/does-wave-particle-duality-exist-for-gravitational-waves | <p>For electromagnetic waves there exists a wave/particle duality: light sometimes behaves as a wave, and other times as a particle (photons).</p>
<p>Does such a duality exist for gravitational waves? In other words would we expect gravitational waves to sometimes behave has particles (gravitons)?</p>
| <p>Yes. Gravitational waves <a href="https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/news/ligo20160211" rel="nofollow">have been observed</a>, and assuming that quantum mechanics is the right way to think about the universe, then weak gravitational waves of the sort that can be observed at LIGO can be thought of as coherent ensembles of ... | 612 |
wave-particle duality | Particle associated with material waves according to Wave particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/676039/particle-associated-with-material-waves-according-to-wave-particle-duality | <p>What would be the particle associated with the material waves (like water waves, sound waves) according to <strong>Wave particle duality</strong> and <strong>de Broglie hypothesis</strong>? Are those the medium particles (or molecules) themselves?
Edit:
for eg, photon is associated with electromagnetic wave. Just l... | <p>Assume we have a travelling particle, e.g. an electron.</p>
<p>With it is an associated <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_function" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wave function</a> which is the solution to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger_equation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Schrödinge... | 613 |
wave-particle duality | Gravity: Wave/Particle Duality of the Graviton | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/599225/gravity-wave-particle-duality-of-the-graviton | <p>It just occurred to me that the graviton is still a <em>hypothetical</em> quantum of gravity yet gravitational waves are proven and measurable. Should we not expect that gravity follows the same wave/particle duality of other occurring quanta (radiation) given its ability to behave like a wave?</p>
<p>What limitatio... | <p>"Should we not expect that gravity follows the same wave/particle duality of other occurring quanta (radiation) given its ability to behave like a wave?"</p>
<p>We expect it and we do it. we can quantize the gravitational wave using regular QFT and call it graviton. The problem is when we calculate the cro... | 614 |
wave-particle duality | How does wave-particle duality describe Photoelectric effect? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/246250/how-does-wave-particle-duality-describe-photoelectric-effect | <p>I don't know if electrons work as particles or waves or maybe both in photoelectric effect.</p>
<p>How is Photoelectric Effect actually described by Wave-Particle Duality?</p>
| <p>Depending on the experiment electrons can behave either like a wave or a particle. </p>
<p>In the photoelectric effect is the electron is mainly exhibiting particle behavior. The kinetic energy of the electron is equal to the energy of the photon minus the binding energy of the electron. </p>
| 615 |
wave-particle duality | Does anything exist only as ‘‘pure wave’’ without wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/389279/does-anything-exist-only-as-pure-wave-without-wave-particle-duality | <p>Are sound waves “pure waves”? Or does sound also have a particle nature according to wave-particle duality?</p>
| <blockquote>
<p>Are sound waves “pure waves”? Or sound also has a particle nature according to wave-particle duality?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Waves are described by solutions of wave equations, mainly sinusoidal ones.</p>
<p>There are classical waves where the amplitude of the functions is related to a propagation of... | 616 |
wave-particle duality | Modern interpretation of wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/257060/modern-interpretation-of-wave-particle-duality | <p>As far as I understand, in the early days of quantum theory there was quite a lot of debate over how to interpret what it meant for a quantum mechanical object to exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties. </p>
<p>Is it correct to say that the modern interpretation (as in the one arrived at at the end of ... | <p>It probably depends what interpretation of quantum physics you subscribe to. That sounds approximately right for the Copenhagen interpretation, in which you aren't allowed to analyze where the wave function comes from.</p>
<p>For those who appreciate more what de Broglie, Einstein, Bell and others have put into qua... | 617 |
wave-particle duality | Are there theories that explain wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/59448/are-there-theories-that-explain-wave-particle-duality | <p>I'm confused by the famous wave-particle duality mystery:</p>
<p>When a particle is left unobserved, it acts like a wave and can explore all classically available particle trajectories simultaneously. By looking at it, you force it to decide on a single trajectory, like going through the left or right slit, or like... | <p>The answer by JKL is sufficient but I want to address particularly the <em>Why?</em>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am so confused. Why does it act the way it does?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If one reads a bit about the history of science and physics in particular, it becomes clear that physics at the ultimate end does not a... | 618 |
wave-particle duality | Explanation of electric current and wave-particle duality of electron | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/285388/explanation-of-electric-current-and-wave-particle-duality-of-electron | <p>Edit note: As I've got a downvote and some negative comments, I will try to make myself very clear.</p>
<p>Electrons are thought to be particles, classically. Electric current is defined to be the movement of electrons.
But, electrons have wave-particle duality.</p>
<p>Q.No:1: How is electric current(defined as mo... | <blockquote>
<p>How is electric current(defined as movement of electrons,classically)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Incorrect.</p>
<p>Electric current is defined as the motion of electric charge. In the natural world, most currents are electrolytic, and involve the motion of fairly massive ions both positive and negative. ... | 619 |
wave-particle duality | Higgs Mechanism and Wave-Particle Duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/415791/higgs-mechanism-and-wave-particle-duality | <p>According to Higgs Mechanism a particle acquires mass when it couples to the higgs field. Now consider Wave-Particle Duality. Suppose I am doing a Young's Double Slit Experiment using electrons. When they pass through the slits they behave like waves and quantum waves have no mass, there is just momentum given by de... | <blockquote>
<p>quantum waves have no mass, there is just momentum ...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>is a fundamental misconception about QM. The probability amplitude wavepacket desribing the motion of the electron fully accounts for the movement of its mass (and charge, and...) because this wavepacket, moving freely is res... | 620 |
wave-particle duality | Reviewing the wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/843444/reviewing-the-wave-particle-duality | <p>This could sound an elementary question, but the more I think about it, more convinced I am that there could be a different perspective.</p>
<p>I seriously doubt about what is called "wave particle duality" as a "fact". Let me explain with detail what I want to say.</p>
<p>For terms of this quest... | <blockquote>
<p>I think that, what is really happening is that the electron, as defined above, IS a particle. It's his behavior what is associated to a wave-like pattern.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Have you come across the Bohm-de Broglie pilot wave theory? This is an interpretation of quantum mechanics where the electron is... | 621 |
wave-particle duality | Photoelectric effect and wave particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/248132/photoelectric-effect-and-wave-particle-duality | <p>In a vacuum, if electrons are accelerated by a certain voltage, giving the electrons a specific de Broglie wavelength and were incident on a piece of metal, providing the wavelength was roughly the diameter/distance between two of the atoms in the metal, would the electrons interact with the metal as a wave due to d... | <p>The diffraction pattern is due to elastic scattering from the "ion core", which is the stationary net charge of the atomic nucleus and it's bound electrons; these elastically scattered electrons don't lose any energy. The electrons which interact with the free electrons are inelastically scattered, and contribute a... | 622 |
wave-particle duality | Wave/particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/43592/wave-particle-duality | <p>Apologies if this has been asked before (I did check and I believe it wasn't). I have a question about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality" rel="nofollow">particle/wave duality</a> of photons (or other particles). Depending on what and how we measure the photon turns out to be eit... | <p>This is the idea: when you see the high school equations that describe a parabolic motion, you consequently visualize a flying stone in your mind. Physics does not care about what you imagine, but rather it deals with the equations and their ability to tell you the distance the stone will reach. Because the equation... | 623 |
wave-particle duality | Is a conservation/symmetry law behind wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/673102/is-a-conservation-symmetry-law-behind-wave-particle-duality | <p>Please help me in solving a question stuck in my head about symmetry and conservation laws?
Can wave-particle duality be considered an atomic-particle symmetry? And if so, what is the conservation law behind this symmetry?</p>
| <p>Wave-particle duality is not a symmetry, although based on other places the word "duality" is used in physics, I could see why you might think it is.</p>
<p><em>If</em> wave-particle duality were a symmetry, you would expect something like the following to be true. You can do a calculation with "wave&... | 624 |
wave-particle duality | Wave particle duality or complementarity? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/152760/wave-particle-duality-or-complementarity | <p>First off I have found several different definitions of <em>duality</em> and <em>complementarity</em>, so if anyone has a clear idea on what it meant with these terms please do share.</p>
<p>Now, what I mean is the following: in the wave-particle picture for light and for massive particles, can <strong>all</strong>... | <p>In physics, complementarity is a fundamental principle of quantum mechanics, closely associated with the Copenhagen interpretation. It holds that objects have complementary properties which cannot be measured accurately at the same time. The more accurately one property is measured, the less accurately the complemen... | 625 |
wave-particle duality | Wavelength of a baseball in the context of wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/511710/wavelength-of-a-baseball-in-the-context-of-wave-particle-duality | <p>This MIT professor teaches wave-particle duality of matter <a href="https://youtu.be/Qg7pQ_CYaIQ?t=1452" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here on YouTube</a>. The formula is:</p>
<pre><code>wavelength = h/mv
</code></pre>
<p>Her conclusion is that the wavelength is too small to be detected. Well, I can always make the sp... | <p>I have not done the maths, but I suspect that were you to calculate the speed you would find it to be infinitely smaller than the jiggling of the atoms in the ball due to their temperature. In any case, the wave particle characteristics of the ball would in fact be the composite of the characteristics of its constit... | 626 |
wave-particle duality | Does the magnetic field lie in the Wave-Particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/93620/does-the-magnetic-field-lie-in-the-wave-particle-duality | <p>There is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wave–particle duality</a>. According to this theory, light is a wave and a particle at once.</p>
<p>What about magnetic field? Can it be so, that it is also a wave and particle, but this particle has not yet bee... | <p>Current physics formulation has two frameworks. One is the macroscopic one, in dimensions comensurate with our physical faculties of observation, larger than micrometer sizes. This is the classical framework which was studied and formulated mathematically until the beginning of the twentieth century. Since then we h... | 627 |
wave-particle duality | Does wave-particle duality rely on accepting the Copenhagen interpretation? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/478985/does-wave-particle-duality-rely-on-accepting-the-copenhagen-interpretation | <p>If you're a scientist that subscribes to the many worlds theorem, does that mean you do not accept wave particle duality? Seeing as MW postulates that the wave or particle form has always existed that way in your world (If I understood it correctly)</p>
| <p>No, there is no logical dependence on the two. Recall that particle wave duality existed long before the Copenhagen interpretation of QM. Relative to that interpretation the wave and the particle acquire specific meaning but they existence of duality is not dependent on, nor does it require, the Copenhagen view of... | 628 |
wave-particle duality | Does the wave/particle duality exist across the entire electromagnetic spectrum? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/169547/does-the-wave-particle-duality-exist-across-the-entire-electromagnetic-spectrum | <p>Does the wave/particle duality exist across the entire electromagnetic spectrum?</p>
<p>If theory says so, then to what extent have physicists confirmed by experimental means?</p>
| <p>Wave/particle duality is present across all particles, an equation to show this is:
$$
p=h/\lambda
$$
where p is the momentum of the "particle", lambda is the wavelength and h is Planck's constant. From this it can be seen that anything can be considered a wave, but they must have a very small mass to have a wavelen... | 629 |
wave-particle duality | Which types of particles are affected by the wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/103074/which-types-of-particles-are-affected-by-the-wave-particle-duality | <p>If we take the double slit experiment as a way of demonstrating the wave-particle duality, which types of particles would show an interference pattern?</p>
<p>For example, I know that electrons show such a pattern. But do protons, too? What about atoms? Where is the boundary between "wavey particles" and "classical... | <p>All of them. Even molecules show their wave-like nature, as does, in principle, every object. Speaking of these topics an interesting read about diffraction of C60 molecules is: <a href="http://www.univie.ac.at/qfp/research/matterwave/c60/">http://www.univie.ac.at/qfp/research/matterwave/c60/</a></p>
<p>The point i... | 630 |
wave-particle duality | Is wave–particle duality considered a valid interpretation of the behavior of photons? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/43992/is-wave-particle-duality-considered-a-valid-interpretation-of-the-behavior-of-ph | <p>There are a number of questions on this site that explain the many wave-like behaviors of photons by making reference to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality" rel="noreferrer">wave-particle duality</a>. </p>
<p>However, I have just finished reading Feynman's book <em>QED</em>, where h... | <p>Physics is all about constructing approximate mathematical models to describe the real world. For example Newton's laws are a mathematical model, and they do a pretty good job of describing the motion of the planets round the Sun. Pretty good, but not perfect, because Newton's laws fail to fully describe the <a href... | 631 |
wave-particle duality | Why does Davisson-Germer experiment confirm electron's wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/15854/why-does-davisson-germer-experiment-confirm-electrons-wave-particle-duality | <p>First I apologize if my question is trivial and for my poor English.
I was wondering why my teacher states that "electron's wave-particle duality is verified if we observe diffraction of the electron flux when fired at a crystal"
I mean, if the diffraction was considered to be only shown by waves, then why did the D... | <p>Divisson Germer experiment proved that electron behaves as wave, since diffraction was caused by waves; its a property associated with wave.</p>
<p>But then, long ago when electron was discovered by J.J. Thompson. He found it as a particle in cathode ray tube.</p>
<p>So, Because of validity of both of these experi... | 632 |
wave-particle duality | Wave/particle duality of an alpha-particle that is emitted by alpha decay | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/639762/wave-particle-duality-of-an-alpha-particle-that-is-emitted-by-alpha-decay | <p>I am wondering about the wave/particle duality of an alpha particle in vacuum. Suppose a U-238 nucleus emits an alpha-particle in vacuum. Is the alpha particle initially a spherical wave propagating in all directions? Does the wave function of the alpha particle collapse only later, when it interacts with a remote ... | <p>If you measure the recoil immediately after the emission, then you will know immediatly know which direction the particle is going in. If you wait until the first atom has been ionized then you will know which direction the nucleus is recoiling in without needing to measure it. The recoil and the ionization are <em... | 633 |
wave-particle duality | Why complex functions for explaining wave particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/91147/why-complex-functions-for-explaining-wave-particle-duality | <p>I have this very bad habit of going to the scratch, discarding all the developments of a theory and worldly knowledge, and ask some fundamental (mostly stupid and naive, as some may say) questions as to why why we needed so and so assumption, why we had to consider this way, could we assume $X$ instead of $Y$ and ge... | <blockquote>
<p>After all our goal is to explain physical phenomenon...what if we venture into this jungle of real functions and come up with a totally different theory which explains physical phenomenon.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Good luck to you.
First of all you are wrong that <em>classical</em> physics did not use im... | 634 |
wave-particle duality | Wave-particle duality or particle-wave duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/751663/wave-particle-duality-or-particle-wave-duality | <p>Is there a difference between { a particle that acts as a wave} & { a wave that acts as a particle} ??
Ex: when u consider electrons, they have a specific mass and an inconstant velocity, but when we consider photons, they neither have a specific mass nor a changing velocity.</p>
| <p>Wave-particle duality is best seen with the help of the de Broglie relation between matter and wave:
<span class="math-container">$$ h=p \lambda \tag 1 \label{eq:1}$$</span></p>
<p>(or between wave and matter, if you switch terms <span class="math-container">$\lambda p$</span>, it doesn't matter how you say it). Wha... | 635 |
wave-particle duality | Is wavelenth of a particle relative according to Wave Particle Duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/716128/is-wavelenth-of-a-particle-relative-according-to-wave-particle-duality | <p>De Broglie's equation regarding the wave particle duality of matter <span class="math-container">$\lambda =\frac{h}{mv}$</span> depends on velocity. <strong>Now, velocity is relative and depends on the frame of reference of the observer. But does this mean that even the wavelength is relative and will be different f... | <p>The de <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Broglie</a> relation is a forerunner of the quantum mechanical wave equations. We now know that the wavelength in the wave particle duality is not a wavelength in space. It is the wavelength of the <em>wavefunction... | 636 |
wave-particle duality | Wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/830257/wave-particle-duality | <p>What does it mean for an electron to behave as a wave? I can visualize electrons or other subatomic things as particles. But what do we mean when say it's all a wave. What is waving actually? Waves are just a way by which energy can get transferred right with the oscillation of particles. But in this case the partic... | <p>What behaves like a wave is the quantum wave function
<span class="math-container">$$\Psi(\vec x_1, \dots, \vec x_n)$$</span>
defined on configuration space. It evolves according to the Schrödinger equation
<span class="math-container">\begin{align}
\label{eq:S_eq}
i \hbar \frac{\partial}{\partial t} \Psi(t, \vec x_... | 637 |
wave-particle duality | Questions about the Double Slit Experiment and wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/396787/questions-about-the-double-slit-experiment-and-wave-particle-duality | <p><strong>Re: The Double Slit Experiment and wave-particle duality.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Q1.1: Is this interpretation correct:</strong> When just one single particle (and no more) is sent through the two slits but is not measured, it shows interference as if a wave of particles, equal to every possible path that c... | <blockquote>
<p>When just one single particle (and no more) is sent through the two slits but is not measured, it shows interference...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Quote of the comment from Bill Alsept:</p>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>One particle will not make an interference pattern. It can make one mark on the d... | 638 |
wave-particle duality | How does the Wave Particle Duality fit with Quantum Field Theory? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/343237/how-does-the-wave-particle-duality-fit-with-quantum-field-theory | <p>It's heard quite often that fundamental particles (photons, quarks, etc) act as both particles and waves. </p>
<p>Now, I'm looking at it from a Quantum Field perspective. Is this localized energy <em>ripple</em> what the wave is? And is the fact that it is <em>localized</em> make it a particle?</p>
<p><a href="htt... | <p>No, this is not at all how quantum field theory works.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A "quantum field" does not have a definite value at any time, it is an <em>operator</em> in the quantum theory, not something that has a fixed numerical value, therefore representing it as a lattice as you have done does not reflect the quantum ... | 639 |
wave-particle duality | What is the mechanism behind the wave - particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/172510/what-is-the-mechanism-behind-the-wave-particle-duality | <p>I'm not exactly sure how to phrase this question; I've been reading about wave -particle duality, its history and how it works. But it's really bothering me, whenever I watch YouTube videos about it or read about it, physicists seems to be careful to say that a wave such as light can <strong>BEHAVE</strong> like a p... | <h1>The Trouble with Models</h1>
<p>An honest answer is that we use models to simulate how the universe behaves, and sometimes our models just do not accurately display what something is. This is why there have been, are, and will be so many models in physics. Our models fail every so often. We try to keep the best mod... | 640 |
wave-particle duality | How does the Pauli exclusion principle apply to wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/273646/how-does-the-pauli-exclusion-principle-apply-to-wave-particle-duality | <p>Based on the Pauli exclusion principle , no two particles can have the same quantum state. However, in the double slit experiment with electrons (in which we observe wave-particle duality), at some points the wave functions add up to each other. In those specific spatial spots, two electrons have exactly the same q... | <p>Electrons only interfere with themselves. The dual slit experiment is basically a single electron case. Therefore Pauli exclusion dies not come into play. As to the question in the title, also particle wave duality is associated with single particles. </p>
| 641 |
wave-particle duality | Does Wave-Particle Duality Mean "Particles" are Just Waves With Short Wavelengths? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/666557/does-wave-particle-duality-mean-particles-are-just-waves-with-short-wavelength | <p>I have the following question about wave-particle duality:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Are particles really just waves with short wavelengths?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If this is correct, would it then be accurate to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"<em>everything in the universe is a wave, but when a wavelength is short, it acts... | <p>Well, one can argue that there is no duality what so ever but that all particles are simply excitations of some quantum fields. For example, I do not think that it makes sense to say things like "an electron is both a wave and a particle at once" since after all it is neither classical wave nor classical p... | 642 |
wave-particle duality | What is the role of the magnetic moment on wave particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/645939/what-is-the-role-of-the-magnetic-moment-on-wave-particle-duality | <p>An electron, travelling at high speed relative to an observer, does not radiate unless it undergoes some form of acceleration. Yet we can observe wave like properties under certain measurement conditions. If we accept that the electron has a magnetic moment, then there is a high probability that the electron gained... | 643 | |
wave-particle duality | Light wave particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/217646/light-wave-particle-duality | <p>I have studied about the dual nature of light and all the experiments that proved light was a wave and sometimes a particle, and I am comfortable with the concept that it can be both. However, I have a few questions I am confused about.</p>
<p>1) If I have two different colours of light, I know that they are waves ... | <p>In optics, you rather speak of intensity of light which is the energy per time and per surface. The brighter the light the more intensity it has. The energy transported by a light beam per minute is proportional to the squared amplitude of a wave or the number of photons times their energy.</p>
<p>$E\propto |E_0|^2... | 644 |
wave-particle duality | Trust in wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/609407/trust-in-wave-particle-duality | <p>I am doing an essay in school to consider how much trust is needed to accept knowledge within the natural sciences. For one of my points I decided to look into W-P duality. I know the photoelectric effect shows that light is made up of photons, diffraction patterns suggest EM wave, and the Davisson-Germer exp sugges... | <blockquote>
<p>However, my teacher says that in classical mechanics light cannot be both and for quantum mechanics we can. Does this mean we need more trust in the validity of quantum mechanics because there is a sense of ambiguity?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We only trust that we know more about nature than a hundred and f... | 645 |
wave-particle duality | Wave-Particle Duality in the Confinement of an Electron in a Box | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/151592/wave-particle-duality-in-the-confinement-of-an-electron-in-a-box | <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/wycgI.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HBOeX.png" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
According to the wave particle duality, one can say that an electron is both a wave and a particle. If we confine it in a box, it can only form standing waves at particular ... | 646 | |
wave-particle duality | What exactly is meant by "observed" when talking about the wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/129522/what-exactly-is-meant-by-observed-when-talking-about-the-wave-particle-duality | <p>When talking about the wave-particle duality, teachers and books say that when you send a single photon through a slit, it makes a wave pattern. But if you send that particle through the slit and "you observe it directly", then it appears as a single point (a particle).</p>
<p>What is meant by "observe"? Is that li... | <p>I would generally support <a href="https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/129524/670">Ayesha's answer</a>, in that it explains that decoherence is instigated by the microscopic interacting with the macroscopic. </p>
<p>As with many things in Quantum Physics, this is evidently true at the extremes (e.g. putting a detec... | 647 |
wave-particle duality | Is the probabilistic behaviour of quantum mechanics something "new" (not directly connected) to wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/630001/is-the-probabilistic-behaviour-of-quantum-mechanics-something-new-not-directl | <p>Is the probabilistic behaviour of quantum mechanics theory a direct consequence of the particle-wave duality ? Or is probabilistic behaviour an additive, <em>independent</em> feature (with respect to particle-wave duality) , of quantum mechanics.</p>
<p>To reformulate in another way : if we assume that a particle is... | <p>It's something new.</p>
<p>Generally, probability was seen as an outcome of not knowing everything about a system. This is how thermodynamiics explain the bulk properties of many particle systems.</p>
<p>In QM, on the other hand, probability was seen as ontologically basic. It's not due to the lack of information we... | 648 |
wave-particle duality | Dark Matter Wave Particle Duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/482654/dark-matter-wave-particle-duality | <p>CERN is looking for dark photons, and they are seeking to look for interactions with the Higgs boson with the dark photon.<a href="https://home.cern/news/news/physics/cms-hunts-dark-photons-coming-higgs-boson" rel="nofollow noreferrer">See link here</a>. So in other words a dark photon - a mediator for dark matter i... | <p>All particles exhibit wave-particle duality and interference effects, not just photons. However, it would be difficult to observe this aspect of dark matter because of its extremely limited interactions with our own kind of matter.</p>
<p>For example, in the CERN experiment you mention, they are simply looking for &... | 649 |
wave-particle duality | Wave particle duality and gravity | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/450263/wave-particle-duality-and-gravity | <p>Is a particle's center of gravity at the center of its wave function or is it where we would measure the particle to be? When we measure a particle does its center of gravity shift to where the particle is measured?</p>
| <p>The wave function only predicts the probability distribution of finding a particle or a system of particles at an (x,y,z). The center of a wavefunction <span class="math-container">$Ψ$</span> is not a well defined concept, as it is different for different boundary conditions. It obeys the symmetries imposed by the ... | 650 |
wave-particle duality | Wave-particle duality and temperature | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/182669/wave-particle-duality-and-temperature | <p>Today it was told me that wave properties of a particle increase if the temperature decreases. I'm surprised because I have never listened a similar thing, but I think that it's very interesting. </p>
<p>Could you explain me why it happens? </p>
| <p>I think that your teacher (?) asked you about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_de_Broglie_wavelength" rel="nofollow">thermal de Broglie wavelength</a>, where $$\lambda_T \propto\frac{1}{\sqrt{T}}.$$ You get this expression when you express the momentum in $\lambda=h/p$ in in terms of kinetic energy and ... | 651 |
wave-particle duality | Are all elementary particles exhibit wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/346287/are-all-elementary-particles-exhibit-wave-particle-duality | <p>I have watched a lot of videos about quantum theory/mechanics and other and when they speak, say, about double slit experiment they say that 'if you shoot an electron...'. Then I read somewhere that photon exhibits w-p duality. And on some other video the narrator said that all elementary particles can behave as a w... | 652 | |
wave-particle duality | Doubt on "wave-particle duality" in quantum mechanics | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/594303/doubt-on-wave-particle-duality-in-quantum-mechanics | <p>I'm reading the book <span class="math-container">$[1]$</span> (which is not a scientific communication book, rather a student-friendly introduction to Quantum Mechanics).</p>
<p>Jakob <span class="math-container">$[1]$</span> then writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Many people unfamiliar with quantum mechanics may won... | <p>The definition of particles in QFT is a bit technical than our usual notion of particles. A particle is an excitation of a field. For example, the Higgs boson is an excitation of the Higgs field. With this notion, we can say electrons are particles. However, the wave notion is also built-in in the excitation part of... | 653 |
wave-particle duality | Why does the wave-particle duality become unnoticeable with more mass? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/348602/why-does-the-wave-particle-duality-become-unnoticeable-with-more-mass | <p>According to the formula $λ=h/mv$ for the De Broglie wavelength, as the mass increases, it becomes a greater coefficient to multiply the velocity by, and the larger number in the denominator makes the wavelength so small that it can't be detected for high mass objects. My physics teacher used this reasoning to expla... | <p>There exist wave equations , second degree differential equations which have as solutions sinusoidal functions. These functions can model perfectly water waves, sound waves, and even light waves. What is modeled as waving is the amplitude of the transfer of energy in water waves, acoustic waves, and light waves. </p... | 654 |
wave-particle duality | Wave-particle duality seems like an obvious example of a contradiction that people refuse to accept. What am I missing? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/636192/wave-particle-duality-seems-like-an-obvious-example-of-a-contradiction-that-peop | <p>We state that electrons are subatomic particles with no known subcomponents.</p>
<p>We discover that these electrons behave as waves.</p>
<p>We also discover that sometimes, these electrons behave as point-particles.</p>
<p>We conclude that they're the both at the same time.</p>
<p>This, to me, sounds nonsensical. I... | <p>Maybe, just maybe, we don't have a good word for it and we should call it a "warticle" or a "pave"? Why would you expect that a phenomenon at such a small scale can be described by words we use for the macroscopic world? Sometimes it behaves like how we know a wave behaves, sometimes it behaves l... | 655 |
wave-particle duality | Clarification about Wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/208818/clarification-about-wave-particle-duality | <p>Okay,so I am learning about the double slit experiment done with electrons. I saw this picture, which shows the interference pattern being built up slowly with increasing number of electrons:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ACeod.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ACeod.gif" alt="enter im... | <blockquote>
<p>The fact that the first image has a random distribution, shows that each electron interferes with itself and strikes a point on on the screen which would be dictated by the probability function. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The interference pattern is the result of the same inter... | 656 |
wave-particle duality | Wave-particle duality for Higgs boson | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/600069/wave-particle-duality-for-higgs-boson | <p>I know that all matter particles have a dual nature, particle and wave. And apart from matter, photons also have dual nature. But what about bosons, specifically Higgs bosons? Do they show both wave and particle characters?</p>
| <p><em>All</em> particles have a wave nature. Therefore, the Higgs boson must has a wave nature.</p>
<p>This is true for all particles whether they are massive or not, or whether they are bosons or fermions.</p>
| 657 |
wave-particle duality | particle wave duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/376333/particle-wave-duality | <p>A single photon travelling within a single wavelength contains a dual nature, in that it can behave as a particle or a wave depending upon the chosen experiment or measure.</p>
<p>When the duality behaves as a particle, is it true to say that at the point of measurement or detection that the wave-form of the dualit... | <p>A photon does not "collapse" into a particle or a wave depending on which measurement you make. <em>That</em> is specifically a property of wavefunctions, which probabilistically describe the <strong><em>location</em></strong> of the photon. When people talk about wave-particle duality, they are instead talking abou... | 658 |
wave-particle duality | Wave particle duality/double slit experiment | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/275671/wave-particle-duality-double-slit-experiment | <p>In double slit experiment, if flux of electrons are very low, then..</p>
<ol>
<li><p>if one "observes" the electrons before it has reached the slit, it "behaves" as a particle and this is due to the interaction (reflection?) of photons with the electrons.</p></li>
<li><p>The screen depicts an interference pattern ... | <p>Electrons are quantum mechanical entities. They are successfully modeled by wavefunctions which are solutions of a wave equation. These wave functions are probabilistic, the complex conjugate square of the function gives the probability of finding the electron at (x,y,z,t) in a dV, where V is the four vector volume ... | 659 |
wave-particle duality | Are there new concepts for the explanation of the wave-particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/122536/are-there-new-concepts-for-the-explanation-of-the-wave-particle-duality | <p>Whenever we can observe photons immediate, they are particles. That includes that photons have a inner structure with periodically varying electric and magnetic fields. The EM field of a radio antenna exists because this field consists a lot of photons with their periodically changing EM components. Whenever we obse... | <p>@anna v: It's not an answer but it's to long for comments.
I could not stick together some facts.</p>
<p>1st: "The electromagnetic wave is composed by a huge number of photons." with what I fully agree. But the following sentence "They (photons) do not carry explicitly electric or magnetic fields." I could not stic... | 660 |
wave-particle duality | Is the Uncertainty Principle a logical consequence from the Wave-Particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/197821/is-the-uncertainty-principle-a-logical-consequence-from-the-wave-particle-dualit | <p>I always thought of the Uncertainty Principle as a logical consequence that follows from the Wave-Particle duality, or more precise, from the fact that all particles behave as waves as long as they do not interact with other particles.</p>
<p>From basic wave properties, it's clear that you cannot know both the posi... | <p>The uncertainty principle is much more general than anything you might say about the wave-particle duality. In particular, wave-particle duality is a vague and imprecise statement about how certain types of quantum systems qualitatively behave, while the uncertainty principle is a very general and <em>quantitative</... | 661 |
wave-particle duality | Could wave-particle duality not be duality, but a constant switching between particulate and waveform? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/297497/could-wave-particle-duality-not-be-duality-but-a-constant-switching-between-par | <p>SO, I'm just an enthusiast who's been doing some reading - and I don't have the level of math training to get my answer from the equations - so I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question. </p>
<p>I have been reading about the photon interference patterns in the double-slit and interferometer experiments...... | <p>Ignoring the very difficult idea of all of the energy somehow magically collapsing back to a point, you'll find that the delayed quantum eraser experiments thoroughly challenge your idea. In those experiments, the light acts like a particle or a wave, but the decision as to which it behaves like occurs <em>after</e... | 662 |
wave-particle duality | Wave Particle duality because of discrete time? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/73254/wave-particle-duality-because-of-discrete-time | <p>If time is discrete, such as the Planck's length, would the transition from one frame of time to the next explain why it appears matter changes from a particle to a wave? During that infinitely small space between each frame we can not measure the particle and it appears as a wave?</p>
| 663 | |
wave-particle duality | What is the upper limit of objects behaving as a wave-particle? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/254367/what-is-the-upper-limit-of-objects-behaving-as-a-wave-particle | <p>Photons, electrons are subatomic particles to which the wave-particle duality applies. Protons are heavier quantum objects and posses quantum tunneling which is a wave character. </p>
<p>What is the upper limit in size or mass after which quantum effects (wave-particle duality) no longer hold?</p>
| <p>Quantum interference experiments have been done even by using large molecules, such as the <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v401/n6754/abs/401680a0.html" rel="nofollow">C-60 fullerene</a>; although there is no such thing as a 'limit', as quantum effects hold good for all objects, as it is already pointe... | 664 |
wave-particle duality | What exactly is wave particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/689143/what-exactly-is-wave-particle-duality | <p>I am a 12th grade student I want to clarify some fundamentals about waves.It's clear to me when some one says sound propagates
As a wave(the variations of air densities as a function of distance from the source at an instant of time represent a sinusoidal function.).But what does it mean when someone says electron b... | <p>The “wave” of the electron is a probability wave used to describe quantum effects. For quantum-scale particles that have not had any effects measured (e.g. spin, momentum, position), the “particle” cannot be described as a discrete object in one spot/state, but as a wave existing in and moving through multiple state... | 665 |
wave-particle duality | Slit screen and wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/22923/slit-screen-and-wave-particle-duality | <p>In a double-slit experiment, interference patterns are shown when light passes through the slits and illuminate the screen. So the question is, if one shoots a single photon, does the screen show interference pattern? Or does the screen show only one location that the single photon particle is at?</p>
| <p>The answer is <strong>yes</strong> to both questions: yes, the screen does show one location for one particle and yes, the accumulated picture after repeating the experiment many, many times does show the interference pattern.</p>
<p>There is a set of beautiful pictures and a video of the double slit experiment in ... | 666 |
wave-particle duality | Is wave-particle duality not clear from the single-slit experiment? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/197350/is-wave-particle-duality-not-clear-from-the-single-slit-experiment | <p>In experiments it is easy to discern between 2 and more-than-2 fringes on a screen, making the double-slit experiment the default one for wave-particle tests.</p>
<p>Let's say we shoot massive particles (e.g. electrons) towards a slit. Would the image behind it be the same no matter if we consider the electrons to ... | <p>There is still interference at a single slit resulting in a Fraunhofer pattern. Just consider both edges of the split as starting point of a new wave.</p>
<p>Generally you're right. But, in a single slit, the electrons could still be deflected by the atoms that make up the slit. This - I think - leaves more room fo... | 667 |
wave-particle duality | Evaluating double-slit experiment for wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/250545/evaluating-double-slit-experiment-for-wave-particle-duality | <p>Is it possible that the wave-like behavior of particles in double slit experiments is just an outcome of particle distribution? Can we regard or treat a normal or Gaussian distribution as wave-like? </p>
<p>Supposing the pegs on a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean_machine" rel="nofollow">Galton board</a> ... | <p>It is possible that the wavelike behavior in a double slit experiment is just the outcome of particle distribution. One example is on my link at the top of my page.</p>
<p>I do not believe that propagating photons, in slit experiments are being influenced by a Galton board type medium. I do agree with Einstein, that... | 668 |
wave-particle duality | If photons have a wave particle duality would gravitons have a wave particle duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/217043/if-photons-have-a-wave-particle-duality-would-gravitons-have-a-wave-particle-dua | <p>If electromagnetic waves are the same as photons would gravitational waves be the same as gravitons?</p>
| <p>Yes, all particles, atoms, and molecules smaller than about a C60 molecule exhibit both wave and particle properties. It's not until the object is larger than its wave function that it begins to lose its wave nature.</p>
| 669 |
wave-particle duality | Isn't wave particle duality of light actually cheating? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/8715/isnt-wave-particle-duality-of-light-actually-cheating | <p>When answering questions about light, I see that we conveniently shift between wave and particle nature of light to match the answer-- isn't this really cheating? </p>
<p>Or, is it the principle that the observation changes the nature of the object?</p>
| <p>You wouldn't think it's cheating if you understood the "wave" involved to be NOT a physical wave in some ether-like medium, but a measure of the information we have about the system (technically, a wavefunction -- the complete description of the system).</p>
<p>When there is no detector to access that information, ... | 670 |
wave-particle duality | Does Wave-Particle duality exist at high speed? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/421341/does-wave-particle-duality-exist-at-high-speed | <p>I know that relativistic DeBroglie wavelength is given by
$λ = h/γmv$.
And $γ ≥ 1$, so at higher speed $λ$ will get shorter and shorter, does this mean it will start behaving like a particle and wave picture would be destroyed?</p>
| <p>Wave Particle Duality principle is valid for particles of any speeds. In a double slit experiment with electron(s), interference fringes are formed for any speed of electron(s).</p>
<p>Of course, the details of the interference fringes seen on the screen will depend on the momentum, and hence on the speed, of the el... | 671 |
wave-particle duality | Wave/particle-duality as result of taking different limits of a QFT | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/154510/wave-particle-duality-as-result-of-taking-different-limits-of-a-qft | <p>There is an account on dualities in quantum field theories and string theories by Polchinski from last week </p>
<p><a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1412.5704">http://arxiv.org/abs/1412.5704</a></p>
<p>At the end of page 4, he writes the wave/particle dichotomy arises from <em>different limits</em> you can take in a... | <p>There are probably various answers to this question and I will try to provide one that I consider quite interesting. It is a specific realization/example of the fact that the path integral is dominated by estrema of the action.</p>
<p>The wave aspect of a QFT is probably trivial as QFT is dealing with wave equation... | 672 |
wave-particle duality | Bohm's view of double-slit experiment, wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/435630/bohms-view-of-double-slit-experiment-wave-particle-duality | <p>I gather that Bohm denies the notion that the act of measurement decides whether a photon will be a wave or a particle. Bohm's idea seems to be that the photon is always a particle with a real trajectory that always passes through one OR the other slit, NOT bizarrely through both slits simultaneously, in the double-... | <p>If you have a detector at one of the slits to detect which slit the particle goes through, the interference pattern disappears. In the de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory, there is still a wavefunction which is defined at both slits. However, each particle's trajectory is well-defined, and carries it through only one ... | 673 |
wave-particle duality | Wave-particle duality: interactions of like / different quantum fields | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/826859/wave-particle-duality-interactions-of-like-different-quantum-fields | <p>With my pop-sci level of understanding, it seems to me that quantum fields exhibit particle-like properties only when interacting with a different quantum field - i.e. electromagnetic field interacts with electron field to produce an excitation of an electron and this interaction is localized so both fields appear a... | <p>On the question: <em>"Is this a valid impression".</em> The answer is "meh". It's not great, it's not terrible. A photon interacting with an electron has a quantum field description (e.g. Feynman diagrams), or a Fock state description in quantum optics. Both of those are technical.</p>
<p>Any gen... | 674 |
wave-particle duality | Understanding the interpretation of wave-particle duality by W.L.Bragg | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/167195/understanding-the-interpretation-of-wave-particle-duality-by-w-l-bragg | <blockquote>
<p>W.L.Bragg, the pioneer in x-ray diffraction, gave this lucid but vivid interpretation:"The dividing line between the wave & particle nature of matter & radiation is the moment <strong>now</strong>. As this moment steadily advances through time, it coagulates <strong>a wavy future into a partic... | <p>Bragg <em>appears</em> to to try to explain wave-particle duality by waving his hands rapidly.</p>
<p>The moment of observation (the present) is <strong>now</strong>. Extrapolating backwards in time from that moment (when I observe a particle) I can deduce that this thing I observed was a particle in the past. But ... | 675 |
wave-particle duality | Should particle-wave duality be understood as a description of light's dual nature or as a description of two observable states of light? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/503720/should-particle-wave-duality-be-understood-as-a-description-of-lights-dual-natu | <p>In double slit experiments, light is observed in two distinct conditions (no measurement of trajectory / measurement of trajectory) that bring two different results (no interferences / interferences).</p>
<p>In such a context, light is given two types of representation (wave / particle) which, while matching observ... | <p>The whole "wave-particle duality" mess is just that: a misleading mess, and it better if one banishes this term from one's repertoire altogether.</p>
<p>First off, what we <em>observe</em> that leads to positing this notion is this:</p>
<ul>
<li>At very low intensities, when light hits a detector, it hits it like ... | 676 |
wave-particle duality | Misunderstood of wave-particle dualism? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/408599/misunderstood-of-wave-particle-dualism | <p>Reading about dual nature of light, and atomic transitions, it seems to me, maybe wrongly, that the dual nature depends on the way we look at the phenomena. </p>
<p>Suppose a water wave travels and reach another water source. Why can't we talk about a condition like:</p>
<p><span class="math-container">$$\Delta E=... | <p>A classical wave emerges in a medium of a huge number of molecules , we cannot identify individual molecules with the frequency of the wave, the molecules are the "coordinates" on which the energy and momentum of the wave motion can be mathematically modeled, by their small motions up or down (transverse wave), left... | 677 |
wave-particle duality | Light has a wave particle duality, how do we know? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/129892/light-has-a-wave-particle-duality-how-do-we-know | <p>I've been told my whole life that light is either a wave or a particle. When it's traveling through space, it's a wave. When it hits a wall, or a photo-sensitive chemical strip or something similar, it's a particle. </p>
<p>However, upon looking back all of the examples I've seen I can only recall instances in w... | <blockquote>
<p>When it's traveling through space, it's a wave. When it hits a wall, or a photo-sensitive chemical strip or something similar, it's a particle.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No, this is wrong. It's not sometimes a particle and sometimes a wave. It's always a particle and always a wave. <a href="http://www.lig... | 678 |
wave-particle duality | A Simple Question on wave-particle duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/515298/a-simple-question-on-wave-particle-duality | <p>This was an mcq question in which only <strong>1 option</strong> is correct . The question stated -</p>
<p>Two Photons having -</p>
<ol>
<li><p>equal wavelength have equal linear momenta</p></li>
<li><p>equal energy have equal linear momenta </p></li>
<li><p>equal frequency have equal linear momenta </p></li>
<li... | <p>Option 1 is that equal wavelength implies equal momenta.
Option 4 is that equal momenta implies equal wavelength.</p>
<p>They are not the same statement. The implication goes in opposite directions. (Similar to how "human" implies "mammal", but "mammal" does not imply "human".)</p>
<p>From the overall momentum vec... | 679 |
wave-particle duality | Could particle wave duality be caused by gravity? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/246243/could-particle-wave-duality-be-caused-by-gravity | <p>We know that light (and other particles) displays particle wave duality, or the ability to be a particle and a wave at the same time. After that it becomes confusing. We also know that gravity is a sort of indentation in the space time continuum. Finally, we know that light has a gravitational field. So could partic... | <p>The short answer is no.</p>
<p>The longer answer requires a background in physics, to understand that measurements have told us that there are four interactions, (strong, weak, electromagnetic, gravitational) and in order of strength gravity is the weakest of all and will be the last to play any measurable role and... | 680 |
wave-particle duality | Why the wave-particle duality cannot be explained as a traveling-standing wave duality? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/78074/why-the-wave-particle-duality-cannot-be-explained-as-a-traveling-standing-wave-d | <p>This would explain why speed and position cannot be measured at the same time, since either the wave would be traveling (speed) or enclosed and standing (position). The act of enclosing it (to be observed) could explain the effects of observation as well.</p>
<p>I asked a similar question some time ago and apparent... | <p>You idea of "standing enclosed waves" with moving boundaries sounds exactly like the wave packet description of particles in QM.</p>
| 681 |
wave-particle duality | Does this experiment on wave-particle duality and complementarity disprove quantum mechanics and prove the EPR viewpoint on it? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/54385/does-this-experiment-on-wave-particle-duality-and-complementarity-disprove-quant | <p>I recently read</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/05/disentangling-the-wave-particle-duality-in-the-double-slit-experiment/" rel="nofollow"><em>Photons act like they go through two paths, even when we know which they took</em></a>, at Ars Technica,</p>
</blockquote>
<p>which report... | <p>In my answer to <a href="https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/53959/wave-particle-duality/53970#53970">wave-particle duality</a> I expain the key to this misunderstanding in popular expositions on quantum mechanics.</p>
<p>The basic problem is that people think that the wave nature of the elementary particle... | 682 |
wave-particle duality | waves particle duality of human body | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/185681/waves-particle-duality-of-human-body | <p>De Broglie stated electrons can travel as particles and waves. Electrons show its waves properties when they can diffract through a carbon layer. So, I am not sure about his statement which human also can diffract through a gap. </p>
| 683 | |
wave-particle duality | How does wave-particle duality explain the interference pattern? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/668399/how-does-wave-particle-duality-explain-the-interference-pattern | <p>The screen is the Y axis and the line perpendicular to it is the X axis. We fire an electron with a well-defined momentum <span class="math-container">$p_x$</span> in the X direction. Shouldn't the x-co-ordinate of the particle follow a probabilistic distribution of wavelength <span class="math-container">$\frac{p_x... | <p>As soon as the electron meets the screen, you know its <span class="math-container">$x$</span> coordinate, so its <span class="math-container">$p$</span> is uncertain and so is its <span class="math-container">$y$</span> coordinate.</p>
| 684 |
wave-particle duality | Light-Particle Wave Duality | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/64406/light-particle-wave-duality | <p>There is a lot of reading to do on this to fully understand it, but without doing that reading is there a short explanation as to why and how light behaves as a wave and a particle?</p>
| <p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_%28wave_propagation%29" rel="nofollow noreferrer">interference patterns</a> of light show the wave nature of light.</p>
<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/eF34O.png" alt="two point sources"></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Optical interference between two point sources... | 685 |
wave-particle duality | Wave-particle duality - particles as a special case of waves? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/194397/wave-particle-duality-particles-as-a-special-case-of-waves | <p>This may be an incredibly dumb question, but I'm asking it anyway.</p>
<p><strong>What is wrong in thinking that particles are just waves with amplitude zero?</strong></p>
| <p>By the Born interpretation, the probability of finding a particle near a point $x$ is $|\psi(x)|^2$. If $\psi(x) = 0$, then the probability of finding the particle is zero for all locations, which means that the particle doesn't exist.</p>
<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> The "amplitude" of a general wave-function isn't... | 686 |
wave-particle duality | Particle- and wave-like properties | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/668148/particle-and-wave-like-properties | <p>Is wave-particle duality a real concept or a pedagogical tool? In a less opinion-based way: what are <em>particle properties</em> and <em>wave properties</em> of a particle (that we speak of particle properties of particles nicely encompasses the problem).</p>
<p>Judging by the recurrent themes in the questions abou... | <p>I would not say the main particle like property is countability. I would say that it is the all or nothing outcome of interactions. Though perhaps that isn't all that different.</p>
<p>Suppose you have a very dim plane wave approaching a phosphor screen with a pinhole. Behind it is another screen. You will see indiv... | 687 |
wave-particle duality | Why doesn’t simultaneous wave particle observation collapse the wave function? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/422889/why-doesn-t-simultaneous-wave-particle-observation-collapse-the-wave-function | <p>My question is pretty much as the subject suggests. Recently Fabrizio Carbonne and a team from EPFL have managed to image the wave particle duality of light. I thought however that this was a technical impossibility given the measurement effect and what Bell’s inequalities told us about the reality of superposition,... | <p>The experiment <a href="https://actu.epfl.ch/news/the-first-ever-photograph-of-light-as-both-a-parti/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">described here</a> is not with one particle at a time, so the wave particle duality is healthy and not attacked by these observations. It is working with ensembles of particles , and thoug... | 688 |
wave-particle duality | Experiment that demonstrates the wave-particle duality of electrons | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/268250/experiment-that-demonstrates-the-wave-particle-duality-of-electrons | <p>EDIT : You're about to read the first iteration of my question which is flawed. Please go to the end to see an illustration of what I meant to say. The phenomenon I was talking about is called emission spectrum.</p>
<hr>
<p>I remember watching an experiment in a documentary, <em>The Elegant Universe</em> by Brian ... | <p><strong>Double-Slit Experiment</strong></p>
<p>I believe you are describing the double slit experiment with electrons (as opposed to with light). The pattern you are describing is called an interference pattern (much like two pebbles producing ripples in a pond and there are parts where the ripples cancel out). Bel... | 689 |
wave-particle duality | Is there a 5th fundamental force which may be responsible for the behavior of matter to be wave or a particle? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/482902/is-there-a-5th-fundamental-force-which-may-be-responsible-for-the-behavior-of-ma | <p>We already know about the 4 fundamental forces in nature which are gravitational,electromagnetic,weak nuclear and strong nuclear forces.</p>
<p>There are several other questions on this website which are somewhat related to this question but I want to know if there is any other fundamental force which is responsibl... | <p>Quantum mechanics is a physics theory , and physics theories impose extra axioms on mathematical solutions of equations in order to fit observations and predict future behaviors. These axioms are called: postulates, laws, principles and depend directly on experimental observations.</p>
<p><a href="http://hyperphysi... | 690 |
wave-particle duality | Quantization and wave-particle dualism of light | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/414084/quantization-and-wave-particle-dualism-of-light | <p>I'm studying atomic spectras and got puzzled about <em>light-quantization</em>. I'll expose my effort to understand it so far.</p>
<p><strong>Blackbody radiation</strong></p>
<p>Around the year $1900$ Planck explained <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-body_radiation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">blackbody ... | <p>The formula $E=h\nu$ implies that light is quantised. Planck introduced the quantum in 1900 as a heuristic trick Then Einstein's 1905 explanation of the photoelectric effect proved that the light quantum was physical. </p>
<p>The reason is that the number of electrons emitted is proportional to the energy of the ir... | 691 |
wave-particle duality | What is the basis of description of matter and energy in our universe in the form of wave and particle? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/643335/what-is-the-basis-of-description-of-matter-and-energy-in-our-universe-in-the-for | <ol>
<li><p>What exactly does wave particle duality mean does it mean that an electron is a particle which is moving like a wave or does it mean that an electron and a photon is neither a wave nor a particle and something completely different or is it as if it’s sometimes a wave and the other times a particle or if it’... | <p>The basis is observation. The way to understand observation proved to be quantum mechanics. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics</a>.</p>
| 692 |
wave-particle duality | What is a wave function? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/712920/what-is-a-wave-function | <p>I read about Erwin Schrödinger describing wave particle duality with something called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_function" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wave function</a>. What does a wave function mean?</p>
| <p>So before we get into this there is a few levels of explanation to this and as this seems to be one of your first encounters with the subject I will skimp on mathematical details and rigor and keep the discussion rather shallow. If you are interested in a more detailed account let me know.</p>
<p>So first of all let... | 693 |
wave-particle duality | Why do we need a double slit experiment, when a single slit experiment shows that an electron/photon behaves like a wave? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/720559/why-do-we-need-a-double-slit-experiment-when-a-single-slit-experiment-shows-tha | <p>To demonstrate wave-particle duality, it is often stated that we need to perform a double slit experiment. However, it seems that in a single slit experiment, individual photons or electrons behave like a wave. This is a reference for diffraction with a single slit: <a href="https://opentextbc.ca/universityphysicsv3... | <p>As explained in the reference you cite, the single slit is not behaving as a <em>single source</em>; in that example it is wide enough to behave like many sources and thereby interfere <em>with itself</em>.</p>
<p>In the classic double-slit arrangement, the two slits are purposely made as narrow as possible so as to... | 694 |
wave-particle duality | Is electron/photon wave or particle in Feynman sum over histories formulation? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/412294/is-electron-photon-wave-or-particle-in-feynman-sum-over-histories-formulation | <p>In the famous double slit experiment, a photon (say) can behave as wave or particle depending on whether there is (or how) an outside observer measuring the experiment.</p>
<p>Copenhagen interpretation interpret this wave-particle duality by saying that the photon behaves as wave when unobserved, and the act of inte... | <p>The sum over histories formulation is the path <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_integral_formulation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">integral</a> method:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The path integral formulation of quantum mechanics is a description of quantum theory that generalizes the action principle of classic... | 695 |
wave-particle duality | Is $E=hf$ applicable for all types of particle? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/591998/is-e-hf-applicable-for-all-types-of-particle | <p>According to Planck's law, <span class="math-container">$E=hf$</span> is applicable for photon and photons show wave-particle duality. But De Broglie proved that electrons and other substances also show wave-particle duality and he showed that
<span class="math-container">$\lambda=h/p$</span>. But I have some proble... | <p>The momentum of a photon is not given by</p>
<p><span class="math-container">$$p = \frac{h}{mc}$$</span></p>
<p>since a photon has no mass. Instead momentum of a photon is given by</p>
<p><span class="math-container">$$p = \frac{E}{c}$$</span></p>
<p>where <span class="math-container">$E$</span> is the energy of the... | 696 |
wave-particle duality | Hamilton's characteristic function, wave-particle duality and constant-action surfaces | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/823685/hamiltons-characteristic-function-wave-particle-duality-and-constant-action-su | <p>So, I'm currently doing some research about the way in which classical physics connects to quantum physics, and I came across the Hamilton-Jacobi equation, and the implications of Hamilton's characteristic function.</p>
<p>I found out that, since:</p>
<p><span class="math-container">$$ \frac{\partial{S(q_i,t)}}{\par... | <p>You are right, trajectories of the solutions of EL equations are not normal to the surfaces at constant <span class="math-container">$S$</span> in general, if using the Euclidean metric in coordinates which, however, has no physical meaning in general.</p>
<p>However, <strong>for Lagrangians whose kinetic energy is ... | 697 |
wave-particle duality | Is a large system just a set of smaller systems? | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/52101/is-a-large-system-just-a-set-of-smaller-systems | <p>All particles exhibit wave-particle duality. And I have a strange question. </p>
<p>Why does a larger system, liken an atom that is just a set of smaller systems, itself exhibit wave-particle duality?</p>
<p>In principle all large systems can be defined as a set of smaller systems. An atom is a set of nucleus (a s... | <p>According to Quantum mechanics, every particle has a wavefunction which completely describes it. The behavior of the particle, including its time evolution and the distribution of outcomes to any measurement performed on the particle, is determined by its wavefunction (<strong>Edit:</strong> Michael Brown correctly ... | 698 |
wave-particle duality | Dual nature of Matter at gross level | https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/86270/dual-nature-of-matter-at-gross-level | <p>Is the Dual nature (wave - particle duality) of Matter completely proved or just a theory and are the objects (water,rubber ball, car, apple etc.) that we see all around us in day to day life exhibit dual nature (wave - particle duality) in their natural state of existence (as perceived by the human eye) or only whe... | <p>There are two approaches to this.</p>
<p>Firstly, we can steadily increase the size of objects and try to measure quantum properties. At the moment the record is for a <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=quantum-microphone" rel="nofollow">quantum tuning fork</a> that contains around 10 trillio... | 699 |
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