Wave-Particle Duality and Quantum-Classical Analogy

Aloysius F. Kracklauer

Chen Yang, S. Olutunde Oyadiji

Abstract Wave-particle duality is the fundamental phenomenon of particles and fields in quantum mechanics. In the past, the trajectory-like (particle-like) behaviour and wave-like behaviour has been considered separately. In this article, a superimposed model is derived to characterise wave-particle duality of classical particles. The superimposed model reflects an invariant mathematical structure (analogous variables and differential equations) from classical mechanics, classical field theories and quantum mechanics. Its analytical solution carries trajectory-like property (phase-independent) and wave-like property (phase-dependent) of particles that is consistent with to Schrodinger’s picture. Subsequently, the presented model is applied to model duality of classical waves in electromagnetism, acoustics and elasticity. The analysis implies the existence of quantum effects of classical waves at macroscopic scale. It predicts quantum picture on energy and momentum exchange between classical particles and waves. As seen in the model, wave-particle duality reflects inherent and indispensable characteristics of classical objects.

Bruce R. Wheaton

Daegene Song

Quantum theory reveals astonishing and counterintuitive phenomena not found in classical physics, such as wave-particle duality, where entities like electrons and photons exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behaviors. In this paper, we leverage advancements in quantum information science to gain new insights into this phenomenon. We specifically examine negative conditional entropy in quantum entanglement, where the selection of the measurement basis appears to ripple backward in time, akin to Dirac's model of an infinite sea of negative energy states filled with electrons, where holes in this sea appear as positrons. We propose that an observer's knowledge of the measurement choice, analogous to a hole in the negative information sea, corresponds to the wave aspect of the system, while the classical outcome aligns with its particle nature. This exploration of the relationship between microscopic quantum phenomena and macroscopic observations offers new perspectives on the mind-matter duality.

A.P. French, Edwin F. Taylor

It was Erwin Schrodinger who, in 1925, discovered an appropriate form of wave equation, making use of some deep formal analogies between optics and classical particle mechanics that had been evolved in the nineteenth century by W. R. Hamilton and others. There is all the accumulated evidence that the Schrodinger equations work; they provide the basis for a correct analysis of all kinds of molecular, atomic, and nuclear systems. The theoretical basis for the existence of states of discrete energies emerges more or less directly from the wave-particle duality; one of the most familiar features of classical wave behavior is that of standing waves. The quantum amplitudes for a particle in a bound state can be normalized. In order to make the statistical interpretation of the wave function more precise, we need to use the quantitative ideas of probability distributions.

Rolf E. Hummel