Two well-known conceptual conundrums of quantum mechanics referred to as instantaneous action-at-a-distance and inseparable wave-particle character are tackled using the principle of least action. Since any measurement is an action, it is reasoned that the spin of a particle just as the polarization of a photon remain indetermined for the observer until at least a quantum of action flows from the object to the observer. The detection places the quantity in question in the observer's frame of reference. This reference frame for one photon will instantaneously apply also to the polarization of the other photon provided that the two photons have not been perturbed ever since the correlated pair emerged from a radiative decay. The wave-particle duality of a single photon or an electron, that the double-slit experiment demonstrates, can also be understood in terms of actions. The energy density difference between the source of particles and their sink at the detector is a driving force that will cause flows of energy densities such as photons or electrons to propagate down along the paths of least action. Since no space is empty of energy density, the propagating particle as a flow of density will invariably perturb surrounding densities. When the driving density difference including the perturbation is leveling off via two or more paths, the ensuing flows of densities depend on each other. Therefore the flows through the two slits can never be separated from each other which will manifest as the inseparable particle-wave character. Keywords: action-at-a-distance; double slit experiment; energy dispersal; evolution; quantum paradoxes; the principle of least action
Two well-known conceptual conundrums of quantum mechanics referred to as instantaneous action-at-a-distance and inseparable wave-particle character are tackled using the principle of least action. Since any measurement is an action, it is reasoned that the spin of a particle just as the polarization of a photon remain indetermined for the observer until at least a quantum of action flows from the object to the observer. The detection places the quantity in question in the observer's frame of reference. This reference frame for one photon will instantaneously apply also to the polarization of the other photon provided that the two photons have not been perturbed ever since the correlated pair emerged from a radiative decay. The wave-particle duality of a single photon or an electron, that the double-slit experiment demonstrates, can also be understood in terms of actions. The energy density difference between the source of particles and their sink at the detector is a driving force that will cause flows of energy densities such as photons or electrons to propagate down along the paths of least action. Since no space is empty of energy density, the propagating particle as a flow of density will invariably perturb surrounding densities. When the driving density difference including the perturbation is leveling off via two or more paths, the ensuing flows of densities depend on each other. Therefore the flows through the two slits can never be separated from each other which will manifest as the inseparable particle-wave character. Keywords: action-at-a-distance; double slit experiment; energy dispersal; evolution; quantum paradoxes; the principle of least action
Two well-known conceptual conundrums of quantum mechanics referred to as instantaneous action-at-a-distance and inseparable waveparticle character are tackled using the principle of least action. Since any measurement is an action, it is reasoned that the spin of a particle just as the polarization of a photon remain indetermined for the observer until at least a quantum of action flows from the object to the observer. The detection places the quantity in question in the observer’s frame of reference. This reference frame for one photon will instantaneously apply also to the polarization of the other photon provided that the two photons have not been perturbed ever since the correlated pair emerged from a radiative decay. The wave-particle duality of a single photon or an electron, that the double-slit experiment demonstrates, can also be understood in terms of actions. The energy density difference between the source of particles and their sink at the detector is a driving force that will cause flows of energy densities such as photons or electrons to propagate down along the paths of least action. Since no space is empty of energy density, the propagating particle as a flow of density will invariably perturb surrounding densities. When the driving density difference including the perturbation is leveling off via two or more paths, the ensuing flows of densities depend on each other. Therefore the flows through the two slits can never be separated from each other which will manifest as the inseparable particle-wave character.
The puzzles of quantum mechanics are: 1. what is the medium for the photon and for the electron wave? i.e. what is waving? 2. particle interference pattern 3. observer effect. 4. entanglement. In Quantum Erasure and Double-Slit experiments, how does the emitter know to direct the photon two both slits or only to one slit? And how does the detector know where to detect the photons to form an interference pattern and not a bell-shaped (Gaussian) pattern or vice versa? This paper proposes a few, closely related, simple and subtle laws of nature governing quantum phenomena. Some of the findings in this paper are: 1. A photon is emitted in two steps: the creation of photon path and the emission of the photon 2. Although (almost) all of the energy of the photon is localized in space, the photon extends to infinity. An extremely small energy of the photon, which we call the 'precursor wave' in this paper, extends to infinity. The instant the photon is emitted, its precursor wave creates a path to infinity; it appears instantaneously in all its path to infinity, with infinitely small energy density. The precursor wave serves as the 'highway' for the propagation of the main energy packet. However, to conserve the principle of causality, we assume that the tip of the photon propagates at a speed billions times the speed of light. Thus, there are two speeds associated with the photon: the speed we know as c and the speed at which the photon length increases. 2. A photon will be emitted only towards an absorber. A photon is emitted by the interaction of the emitter and a detector. It is obvious that a photon will not be emitted if there is no emitter. Nor will a photon be emitted if there is no detector . Once a photon is emitted, however, it exists objectively, autonomously. The photon is emitted only after its path is determined by the interaction of the emitter and the absorber, at the instant of emission. 3. The photon energy will be concentrated where there is higher wave amplitude, i.e higher intensity of oscillation of electric and magnetic fields. This results in 'dragging' of the electromagnetic energy by the wave, hence eliminating the need for any medium. It is also proposed that single photon interference is a quantum phenomenon whereas two photon interference is a classical phenomenon. Similar laws hold for the electron. The 'medium' for the electron wave is the electron (the electron mass density field) itself. Where there is higher intensity of electron wave/oscillation, there will be higher electron mass density. This means that the electron wave 'drags' the electron with itself. Therefore, no exotic 'medium' is required for the photon and for the electron wave.
The Schrödinger's wave function can naturally be realized as an 'instantaneous resonant spatial mode' in which quantum particle moves and hence the Born's rule is derived after identifying its origin. This realization facilitates the visualization of `what's really going on?' in the Young's double-slit experiment which is known to be the central mystery of quantum mechanics. Also, an actual mechanism underlying the `spooky-action-at-a-distance', another mystery regarding the entangled quantum particles, is revealed. Wheeler's delayed choice experiments, delayed choice quantum eraser experiment and delayed choice entanglement swapping experiments are unambiguously and naturally explained at a single quantum level. The reality of Nature represented by the quantum mechanical formalism is conceptually intuitive and is independent of the measurement problem.
This paper reviews humanity's understanding of photons, the evolution of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics (QED), and analyzes their physical interpretations and philosophical implications. It attempts to uncover the true nature of photons by exploring possible hidden variables in the double-slit experiment. The wave-particle duality of photons, as posited by quantum mechanics, appears to me to lack verisimilitude. By designing a thought experiment involving a photon double-slit setup, I seek to falsify the notion that photons generate coherence, or so-called wave-function superposition, within the light field between the slits and the screen. This endeavour aims to demonstrate the pure particle nature of photons. This paper further explores the intrinsic relationship between electromagnetic waves and photons by examining the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. It posits that electromagnetic waves are fundamentally pure particle-waves. An analysis of QED elucidates the potential influence of photon momentum on photon interactions, an effect that could have profound implications for quantum information transmission. This paper explores the non-wave-particle duality of photons through the double-slit experiment and the double-slit observer experiment. The essence of photons is purely particle-like. The thought experiment of the photon double-slit experiment is pivotal in demonstrating that photons and other particles—such as electrons, atoms, and macromolecules—are purely particulate in nature. Moreover, in space, photons can interfere with each other's paths based on their momentum. This can simultaneously alter the trajectory of photons and even modify their velocity. That is to say, a photon beam possessing greater momentum may carry along a portion of photon beams with lesser momentum, propagating them over considerable distances. The wavelength of a light wave fundamentally represents the distance between consecutive photons as they queue and advance through space. A longer wavelength corresponds to a greater distance between photons, causing them to diverge more widely in space, as seen with radio waves. Conversely, a shorter wavelength implies closer proximity between photons, resulting in denser emission and a highly directional nature, as seen in gamma rays. Photons within the visible spectrum may occasionally transmit information bearing specific content. This information, conveyed via photons, can propagate over distances ranging from several metres to thousands of kilometres.
Abstract The double-slit experiment is a classic experiment that presents the clearest manifestation of wave-particle duality, one of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. The double-slit experiment still remains the phenomenon that demonstrates wave-particle duality at the most fundamental level. This phenomenon quantitatively and conceptually demonstrates that microscopic objects can behave like both waves and particles at the same time. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the physical nature of dualism, the mechanism of formation of the interference pattern, and the impact of the act of observation on the dynamics of quantum systems. The need for a new perspective on this topic is due to the fact that the current uncertainty in the interpretation of quantum reality has not yet been completely eliminated, and the boundaries between classical and quantum behavior in microscopic objects are still being explored. The results presented here restructure the deep mechanisms of the interference picture, more clearly frame the relationship between observation and wavefunction collapse, and provide a quantum. Since the article attempts to provide a complete answer to the mechanism of the formation of wave-particle duality, extensive space is given to sections such as historical development, theoretical models, modern research, etc. New approaches to this phenomenon have been developed using modern research and string theory. As a result, a new mathematical expression has been proposed that explains the reasons for the initial emergence of wave-particle duality, and is also important for string theory. The article explains the measurement problem with a more effective physical structure and ontological model.
Nonlocality arises from the unified “all or nothing” interactions of a spatially extended field quantum such as a photon or an electron.2 In the double-slit experiment with light, for example, each photon comes through both slits and arrives at the viewing screen as an extended but unified energy bundle or “field quantum.” When the photon interacts (randomly2) with the screen, field quantization requires it to alter its state instantaneously rather than gradually. Thus if the photon is absorbed, it must vanish or “collapse” nonlocally and instantaneously across a macroscopic portion of the screen, even across many kilometers in the case of interference patterns of light from a small distant star. The interaction instantly transfers the photons energy to a single atom of the screen. But a quantized field can contain any whole number of “excitations” (particles such as photons or electrons). If a single field quantum contains, say, two excitations, then generally the unified all-or-nothing character of quanta implies that any interaction of one excitation must also instantaneously affect the other excitation, regardless of the distance between them. The particles are then said to be “entangled” (see the “Background” section for a more precise definition of this term). Particles can become entangled by being created together in a single microscopic process, or by interacting with each other. Quantum entanglement is at least as fundamental as quantum uncertainty but is seldom mentioned in physics courses, although it has received broad attention recently in a wonderful book by Louisa Gilder.3 A recent paper in this journal presents entanglement in a manner that is useful for high school and college physics teachers.4 This paper builds on that presentation and looks at a different, more intuitive entanglement experiment that should be accessible to both scientists and nonscientists.