Despite their author, de Broglie waves for ordinary (bradyonic) particles are often considered without physical signication, mainly because they are tachyonic. I revisit some of de Broglie’s original ideas and discuss the standard approach to the problem, the \wave packet overlapped to a de Broglie wave. Using Pseudotachyonic Theory, it’s easy to conclude that this tachyonic wave actually exists but may only be detected with the same velocity of its associated particle. Furthermore, in what comes to \dualities, it appears that wave and particle are not two aspects of the same thing but instead two different though intimately correlated entities. These reections concern the physical nature of de Broglie waves, including particles \internal vibration, and lead to the premises of a new general Field Theory. Including positive as well as negative
Despite their author, de Broglie waves for ordinary (bradyonic) particles are often considered without physical signication, mainly because they are tachyonic. I revisit some of de Broglie’s original ideas and discuss the standard approach to the problem, the \wave packet overlapped to a de Broglie wave. Using Pseudotachyonic Theory, it’s easy to conclude that this tachyonic wave actually exists but may only be detected with the same velocity of its associated particle. Furthermore, in what comes to \dualities, it appears that wave and particle are not two aspects of the same thing but instead two different though intimately correlated entities. These reections concern the physical nature of de Broglie waves, including particles \internal vibration, and lead to the premises of a new general Field Theory. Including positive as well as negative
We investigate the tachyonic nature of the de Broglie matter waves associated with a free quantum object to show that granting reality to them would lend completeness to the quantum description of reality. Basing on the robustness of the well known Einstein-de Broglie reciprocal relation between the phase and the particle velocities, we extend the concept of complementarity to them and thereby propose a complementary relation between a bradyon and its corresponding tachyon (i.e. the associated matter wave) to endow the tachyons with a degree of reality, at least on par with the bradyons, within the current framework of quantum physics and extended relativity. The duality is used to argue that because of the observed localised nature of bradyons, tachyons should always be pervasive or global in character and thus, there can be no point-like tachyons. A common misconception regarding the nonrelativistic limit of the Einstein-de Broglie relation is pointed out and the consequent error of long standing is remedied.
Louis de Broglie’s doctoral thesis developed a concept of waves associated with material particles that was soon incorporated into wave mechanics and later supported by experimental demonstrations. De Broglie’s original development, however, relied on an incorrect identification of two quite different relations: the relation between the velocity of a particle and the relation between the group velocity of a wave packet and the velocity of individual waves in the packet. A clarification of this difference and its historial significance is followed by a tentative account of the reasons why de Broglie’s well-known formula proved successful, though the theory supporting it rested on a conceptual confusion. Finally, this development and clarification are related to some of the difficulties involved in the attempts top fashion a coherent interpretation of quantum theory.
Louis de Broglie’s original theory of matter waves has until very recently received relatively little treatment in the literature on history and foundations of physics. This paper attempts to clarify a number of aspects of de Broglie’s theory, as formulated primarily in his famous thesis, which still give rise to confusion or debate. To this end, a re-examination is made of the scope and validity of the relativistic physics employed in de Broglie’s arguments concerning the existence of phase waves and their physical implications. Recent doubts concerning the soundness of de Broglie’s introduction of a wave group associated with the quantum are also analyzed in detail, and it is argued that the wave group indeed has a problematic, if minor, role in the overall theory.
This work is a revised version (Version 2) of a previous paper by the author, presented in a manner intended to emphasize more clearly the connection between its epistemological postulates and the subsequent development of its formalism. Several modifications have been introduced, and new sections have been added. As in the first version, the study concerns the physical interpretation of the imaginary quantities that arise in the formulation of superluminal relativity (including complex coordinates, velocities, angles, charges, and masses). In this framework, the kinematics of tachyons is analyzed, and the nature of the imaginary velocities appearing therein is examined. Furthermore, it is shown that a physical interpretation of the complex quantities (masses and charges) occurring both in quantum mechanics and in superluminal relativity is indeed possible. In this context, the complex nature of the electric charge is investigated, with particular attention to its divisibility. It is demonstrated that singular fractions of the electric charge exist whose squared values coincide with the observed quark charges. Within the same conceptual framework, the physical nature of a complex mass is also explored. It is shown that the imaginary component of such a mass implies that its gravitational field intensity behaves as a wave, propagating with the velocity of the wave associated with the particle itself. It is further demonstrated that the corresponding wavelength coincides with that given by the De Broglie relation, and that the resulting wave equation—second order in both spatial and temporal coordinates—is compatible with the Klein–Gordon wave equation. This constitutes a significant indication of the physical character of the associated wave and suggests an alternative interpretation to the orthodox probabilistic view of quantum mechanics.
It is argued that the de Broglie wave is not the wave usually supposed, but the relativistically induced modulation of an underlying carrier wave that moves with the velocity of the particle. In the rest frame of the particle this underlying structure has the form of a standing wave. De Broglie also assumed the existence of this antecedent standing wave, but it would appear that he failed to notice its survival as a carrier wave in the Lorentz transformed wave structure. Identified as a modulation, the de Broglie wave acquires a physically reasonable ontology, evidencing a more natural unity between matter and radiation than might otherwise be contemplated, and avoiding the necessity of recovering the particle velocity from a superposition of such waves. Because the Schrödinger and other wave equations for massive particles were conceived as equations for the de Broglie wave, this interpretation of the wave is also relevant to such issues in quantum mechanics as the meaning of the wave function, the nature of wave-particle duality, and the possibility of well-defined particle trajectories.
Louis-Victor de Broglie secured his place in the history of quantum physics by proposing the existence of matter waves. Following the concept accepted early in the twentieth century that light waves could display properties characteristic of particles (photons), de Broglie suggested the complementary principle that particles could display properties characteristic of waves. Within a few years, this far-reaching proposal was experimentally verified. The well-known formula for the wavelength λ of the wave associated with a particle of momentum p, namely λ=h/p, does not appear in de Broglie’s original paper, which was published in this journal in 1924. What is derived from the starting assumption that the frequency of the wave is the rest energy of the particle divided by Planck’s constant h, is the wave's velocity, which turns out to be c2/v, where v is the particle’s velocity. This velocity, being superluminal, means that the wave cannot transport energy. De Broglie called it a phase wave and postulated a group of such waves having virtually, but not exactly, the same velocity and wavelength. The group velocity of such a large number of almost identical phase waves is then shown, very satisfactorily, to be equal to the velocity of the particle. The proposal by de Broglie inspired Schrödinger to develop the mathematical foundations of wave mechanics. Whereas in conventional quantum theory, phase waves are considered fictional, de Broglie considered them to have a certain physical reality, renaming them pilot or guiding waves – a concept developed later by Bohm in 1952.