Wave-Particle Duality: Recent Proposals for the Detection of Empty Waves

Bruce R. Wheaton

James E Beecham

Light has historically resisted a single physical interpretation, exhibiting wave-likeinterference, particle-like energy exchange, and invariant high-speed propagation throughspace. These behaviors led to the concept of wave–particle duality, an interpretivecompromise rather than a unified physical explanation. In the SP3 framework, space itselfis not empty or passive but possesses phase, memory, and the capacity for conditioning.This paper reframes light as a localized, self-maintaining reconfiguration of space-phaserather than a particle moving through emptiness or a field oscillating in a void. Interference,quantization, constant propagation speed, and gravitational bending arise naturally fromthe properties of space-phase itself. Wave–particle duality is therefore not resolved bychoosing one description over another but is eliminated by replacing an incompleteconception of space with a physically active medium.

Lucién Hardy

This thesis addresses some of the consequences of giving quantum mechanics a realist interpretation. We consider three main topics: wave-particle duality, locality, and Lorentz invariance. First we show that classical particles alone or classical waves alone cannot explain all single particle quantum phenomena. Then we consider the possibility that a quantum particle is composed of a particle and a wave, both being taken to exist objectively. We are able to demonstrate the reality of empty waves (that is, waves without a particle) if we make three realist motivated assumptions. The main part of this thesis concerns locality. In 1964 Bell demonstrated that a local realist interpretation of quantum mechanics is not possible by deriving a set of inequalities that apply to two particle systems. More recently Greenberger, Home, and Zeilinger have demonstrated this for systems with more than two particles without the need for inequalities. We present a new way to derive Bell inequalities for two particles and show how this can be extended to systems with more than two particles. A number of proposals for experiments to test local realism are put forward. In particular, we show how it is possible to demonstrate the nonlocality of a single photon. A new demonstration of Bell's theorem is presented for two particles but without inequalities. A realizable quantum optical version is proposed and inequalities are proposed which would be required in a non-ideal experiment. Finally, the question of Lorentz invariance is considered. We define a condition for the existence of elements of reality and a condition for the Lorentz invariance of these elements of reality. Then we show that, by considering a particular gedanken experiment, we obtain a contradiction demonstrating that Lorentz-invariant realistic interpretations of quantum theory are not possible.

Arbab I. Arbab, Fatma Osman Mohamed

FRANZ HASSELBACH

Antoine Suárez

It is argued that Hardy-type proposals assume either nonlocality at detection, and then beg the question, or "local empty waves" (local hidden variables), and then have to accept "many worlds" and cannot prove nonlocality.