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Journal of Applied Mathematics and Physics

Particles Actually Represent the Names of Types of Waves

Marat Vladimirovich Guryev

Published Jan 1, 2018• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is accepted that quantum mechanics (QM) describes motion of waves and particles. Therefore, we must use wave-particle duality (WPD), which is usually considered as one of the foundations of QM; however, WPD is well known as a self-contradictory concept. These contradictions insensibly spoil our subconscious thinking about the micro-world (MW). This article shows that known trials to solve these contradictions are erroneous. Quantum jumps (QJs) are shown to be very lame arguments for the real existence of particles. I offer rejecting the concept of particles and using their names as labels for types of corresponding waves. Thus, we can discard contradictions created by WPD. This approach is validated in the article by careful analysis of real calculation methods of quantum electrodynamics (QED). For the first time, it is noticed that proper 4-coordinates of particles are not in use in real calculations in QED. This implies that particles do not take part in real calculations, which describe properties of atoms and molecules. It follows that particles do not exist as such. Therefore, we must acknowledge that we actually use the names of “particles” merely as names of types of given waves, but not as real, physical objects.

DOI
10.4236/jamp.2018.612207

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It is accepted that quantum mechanics (QM) describes motion of waves and particles. Therefore, we must use wave-particle duality (WPD), which is usually considered as one of the foundations of QM; however, WPD is well known as a self-contradictory concept. These contradictions insensibly spoil our subconscious thinking about the micro-world (MW). This article shows that known trials to solve these contradictions are erroneous. Quantum jumps (QJs) are shown to be very lame arguments for the real existence of particles. I offer rejecting the concept of particles and using their names as labels for types of corresponding waves. Thus, we can discard contradictions created by WPD. This approach is validated in the article by careful analysis of real calculation methods of quantum electrodynamics (QED). For the first time, it is noticed that proper 4-coordinates of particles are not in use in real calculations in QED. This implies that particles do not take part in real calculations, which describe properties of atoms and molecules. It follows that particles do not exist as such. Therefore, we must acknowledge that we actually use the names of “particles” merely as names of types of given waves, but not as real, physical objects.
We well know that photon concept is self-contradictory because we assume that it is a particle with wave properties. This contradiction insensibly spoils our subconscious thinking. It is shown in the article that photon has no 4-coordinates for work within atomic quantum electrodynamics (QED). This implies that actually photon is not a particle. I draw attention that QED is the most precise theory developed by humankind. It is noticed that terms photon and electromagnetic field in practice are in use as synonyms. These results validate the title of the article and exempt us from contradictions within quantum mechanics.
Wave-particle duality (WPD) of photons is a recurrent topic in science education research in teaching and learning the quantum behaviour of light. In this commentary, we discuss how WPD has been approached in science teaching and science education literature, and how it leads to ontological challenges in searching for the real “nature of photons”. We suggest that WPD can serve as a starting point of teaching quantum physics if we want to use natural language in discussing experimental results (as Bohr intended it to be). That way WPD can also be approached as part of modern quantum optics as a natural language expression to communicate information acquired in experiments. Such an ap-proach includes a contemporary understanding of quantitative WPD as a means to speak about features of photons as quantum states, not as entity-like objects. Content is discussed at a level appropriate for physics teacher education.
The quantum object is in general considered as displaying both wave and particle nature. By particle is understood an item localized in a very small volume of the space, and which cannot be simultaneously in two disjoint regions of the space. By wave, to the contrary, is understood a distributed item, occupying in some cases two or more disjoint regions of the space. The quantum formalism did not explain until today the so-called “collapse” of the wave-function, i.e. the shrinking of the wave-function to one small region of the space, when a macroscopic object is encountered. This seems to happen in “which-way” experiments. A very appealing explanation for this behavior is the idea of a particle, localized in some limited part of the wave-function. The present article challenges the concept of particle. It proves in the base of a variant of the Tan, Walls and Collett experiment, that this concept leads to a situation in which the particle has to be simultaneously in two places distant from one another—situation that contradicts the very definition of a particle. Another argument is based on a modified version of the Afshar experiment, showing that the concept of particle is problematic. The concept of particle makes additional difficulties when the wave-function passes through fields. An unexpected possibility to solve these difficulties seems to arise from the cavity quantum electrodynamics studies done recently by S. Savasta and his collaborators. It involves virtual particles. One of these studies is briefly described here. Though, experimental results are needed, so that it is too soon to conclude whether it speaks in favor, or against the concept of particle.
Is the wave-function a physical reality traveling through our apparatus? Is it a real wave, or it is only a mathematical tool for calculating probabilities of results of measurements? Different interpretations of the quantum mechanics (QM) assume different answers to this question. It is shown in this article that the assumption that the wave-function is a real wave entails a contradiction with the predictions of the QM, when the special relativity is invoked. Therefore, this text concentrates on interpretations that conjecture that the reality that moves in our apparatuses is particles, and they move under the constraints of the wave-function. The de Broglie-Bohm interpretation, which matches this picture, assumes that the particle travels along a continuous trajectory. However, the idea of continuous trajectories was proved to lead to a contradiction with the quantum predictions. Therefore this interpretation is not considered here. S. Gao conjectured that the particle is in a permanent random and discontinuous motion (RDM). As it jumps all the time from place to place, the total set of occupied positions at a certain time is given by the absolute square of the wave-function. As motivation for his idea, Gao argued that if a charged particle were simultaneously in two or more locations at the same time, the copies of the particle would repel one another, destroying the wave-function. It is proved here that the quantum formalism renders this motivation wrong. Although refuting this motivation, the RDM interpretation is examined here. A couple of problems of this interpretation are examined and it is proved that they don’t lead to any observable contradictions with the QM predictions, except one problem which seems to have no solution. In all, it appears that none of the wide-spread interpretations of the QM is free of contradictions.
Fundamental notions of quantum physics are included in introductory university curricula, in physics teacher training, and even in secondary education, both in Argentina and in various other countries worldwide. Among these fundamental concepts is wave-particle duality (WPD), a key concept and a gateway to the quantum world. This paper presents a critical review of the literature on WPD in specialized journals on physics education and science education at the local, regional, and international context, aiming to gather the most relevant findings regarding its teaching and learning. Preliminary results indicate that these findings can be categorized based on their primary purpose into four categories: Teaching WPD, Learning WPD, Historical and Epistemological Reflections on WPD and Reviews on the Teaching and Learning of Quantum Physics (including WPD).
Abstract Scientific terms and concepts sometimes evolve so that their semantic meanings are changing, to better serve the purposes of their use in scientific practices. Acknowledging the importance of such a process provides a viewpoint on the role of wave-particle duality (WPD) in modern quantum optics and how it is connected to its historical role. The transformation of WPD into a quantitative and operationalised concept is approached here from the viewpoint of the role of WPD as a linguistic practice based on natural language in communicating about experiments and their results and designs. The perspective adopted is based on semantic change and variation of WPD as driven by its role as natural language expression in pursuing the epistemic and the pragmatic goals of the inquiry. This provides a perspective that connects the historical and contemporary roles of WPD through its pragmatic linguistic role. This perspective shifts the focus from philosophical realism-driven questions about WPD as related to the nature or behaviour of photons to questions of how that concept is used in practices of quantum optics research, for what purposes, and with what benefits.