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Physics World

The most beautiful experiment

Robert P Crease

Published Sep 1, 2002• 86 citations
Publisher

Abstract

See ”The double-slit experiment“ on p15 When I asked readers earlier this year to submit candidates for the ”most beautiful experiment in physics“ (Physics World May p17), I was pleased to receive more than 200 replies. The responses covered a broad spectrum, ranging from actual experiments to thought experiments, and from proposed experiments to proofs, theorems and models. However, one experiment – the double-slit experiment with electrons – was cited more often than any other, receiving a total of 20 votes.

DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/15/9/22

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The double-slit experiment with single electrons

John Wickham Steeds, Pier Giorgio Merli, Giulio Pozzi +2 more

The article "A brief history of the double-slit experiment" (September 2002 p15; correction October p17) describes how Claus Jönsson of the University of Tübingen performed the first double-slit interference experiment with electrons in 1961. It then goes on to say: "The next milestone – an experiment in which there was just one electron in the apparatus at any one time – was reached by Akira Tonomura and co-workers at Hitachi in 1989 when they observed the build-up of the fringe pattern with a very weak electron source and an electron biprism (Am. J. Phys. 57 117–120)."

Physics World•May 1, 2003•27 citations
See ”The double-slit experiment“ on p15 When I asked readers earlier this year to submit candidates for the ”most beautiful experiment in physics“ (Physics World May p17), I was pleased to receive more than 200 replies. The responses covered a broad spectrum, ranging from actual experiments to thought experiments, and from proposed experiments to proofs, theorems and models. However, one experiment – the double-slit experiment with electrons – was cited more often than any other, receiving a total of 20 votes.
What is the most beautiful experiment in physics? More than 200 readers replied when Robert Crease asked this question in May, and their top five choices include classic experiments by Galileo, Millikan, Newton and Thomas Young (see pp19–20). But uniquely among the top 10, the most beautiful experiment in physics – the double-slit interference experiment with electrons – does not have the name of an individual associated with it. Most discussions of double-slit experiments with particles refer to Feynman's quote in his 1963 lectures: "[It] is absolutely impossible to explain in any classical way and has in it the heart of quantum mechanics. In reality, it contains the only mystery." But who actually carried out the experiment? Standard reference books offer no answer to this question but a search through the literature does reveal several unsung experimental heroes.
The article "A brief history of the double-slit experiment" (September 2002 p15; correction October p17) describes how Claus Jönsson of the University of Tübingen performed the first double-slit interference experiment with electrons in 1961. It then goes on to say: "The next milestone – an experiment in which there was just one electron in the apparatus at any one time – was reached by Akira Tonomura and co-workers at Hitachi in 1989 when they observed the build-up of the fringe pattern with a very weak electron source and an electron biprism (Am. J. Phys. 57 117–120)."