Different schools have different explanations for the wave-particle duality of microscopic particles. Hidden variable interpretation, pilot wave interpretation, stochastic processes interpretation and so on all think that the generation of wave-particle duality has deeper reasons. According to these interpretations, macroscopic objects can also exhibit significant wave-particle duality. The authors performed a round-hole diffraction experiment of powder particles: some powder particles of the same mass and shape are freely dropped to a plane one by one through a circular hole. At first, the powder particles are distributed disorderly on the plate in the box. With the increase of the number of falling powder particles, a diffraction pattern composed of several concentric rings is gradually presented. This implies that wave-particle duality is not unique to microscopic particles, and it is also exhibited by macroscopic objects. The experimental results help to reveal the nature of wave-particle duality.
Different schools have different explanations for the wave-particle duality of microscopic particles. Hidden variable interpretation, pilot wave interpretation, stochastic processes interpretation and so on all think that the generation of wave-particle duality has deeper reasons. According to these interpretations, macroscopic objects can also exhibit significant wave-particle duality. The authors performed a round-hole diffraction experiment of powder particles: some powder particles of the same mass and shape are freely dropped to a plane one by one through a circular hole. At first, the powder particles are distributed disorderly on the plate in the box. With the increase of the number of falling powder particles, a diffraction pattern composed of several concentric rings is gradually presented. This implies that wave-particle duality is not unique to microscopic particles, and it is also exhibited by macroscopic objects. The experimental results help to reveal the nature of wave-particle duality.
This paper identifies the substantial nature of microworld wave-corpuscle duality and sets out fundamental differences between the microworld and macroworld wave-corpuscle duality. Wave-corpuscle duality of microscopic objects over a century has been among the most intriguing features of microworld. The fact is that microworld objects typically exhibit corpuscularity properties, that is, properties of strictly localized objects, and at the same time in special conditions have properties of spatially distributed and spatially unbounded media. Wave-corpuscle properties of microscopic objects were revealed during diffraction experiments when moving microscopic objects are passing through slots, through crystal lattices, nearby edges of bodies etc. Microscopic objects which have cleared diffractive obstacles (diffracted microobjects) leave spot traces on observation screen which speaks for their corpuscularity while distribution of numerous traces reminds in its nature intensity distribution of diffracted purely wave flows. Experiments prove that wave-corpuscle properties are exhibited by each individually diffracted microobject. Substantial nature of microobjects is still unknown. According to quantum physics a
Here, the concept of a wave-particle duality is questioned. First, the experimental proofs existing, respectively, for particles and waves are examined. In the case of particles, no experimental evidence can be found which establishes them; it seems that particles have always been taken for granted. In the case of waves, considerable evidence has accumulated with results on diffraction, interference, and self-interference of larger and larger objects. Then an important remark is made concerning the fact that unlike particles, waves are not observation-dependent: waves existed before observation otherwise the patterns of diffraction or interference would not have been appearing; the wave nature does not depend on the making of a measurement, there is no measurement problem for waves. Consequently, since waves are not observation-dependent, if the objects are demonstrated to be waves, they are only waves. This fact, along with some other evidence, disagrees with the current interpretation of the Wheeler-type delayed-choice experiments, where the absence of interference is interpreted as a particle behavior. Finally, recent works regarding the de Broglie‐Bohm theory are presented, which lead to suggest a new wave-only version of this theory. It is concluded that a wave-only view might be worth considering instead of the wave-particle duality view which has prevailed so far.
Abstract This study brings a recently discovered macroscopic phenomenon with wave-particle characteristics into the classroom. The system consists of a liquid droplet levitating over a vertically shaken liquid pool. The droplets allow visualization of a wave–particle system in a directly observable way. We show how to interpret this macroscopic phenomenon and how to set up and carry out this experiment. A class of students performed single slit diffraction experiments with droplets. By scoring individual droplet trajectories students find a diffraction pattern. This pilot application in the classroom shows that students can study and discuss the wave–particle nature of the bouncing droplet experiment. The experiment therefore provides a useful opportunity to show wave–particle behavior on the macroscopic level.
Abstract The double-slit experiment is a classic experiment that presents the clearest manifestation of wave-particle duality, one of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. The double-slit experiment still remains the phenomenon that demonstrates wave-particle duality at the most fundamental level. This phenomenon quantitatively and conceptually demonstrates that microscopic objects can behave like both waves and particles at the same time. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the physical nature of dualism, the mechanism of formation of the interference pattern, and the impact of the act of observation on the dynamics of quantum systems. The need for a new perspective on this topic is due to the fact that the current uncertainty in the interpretation of quantum reality has not yet been completely eliminated, and the boundaries between classical and quantum behavior in microscopic objects are still being explored. The results presented here restructure the deep mechanisms of the interference picture, more clearly frame the relationship between observation and wavefunction collapse, and provide a quantum. Since the article attempts to provide a complete answer to the mechanism of the formation of wave-particle duality, extensive space is given to sections such as historical development, theoretical models, modern research, etc. New approaches to this phenomenon have been developed using modern research and string theory. As a result, a new mathematical expression has been proposed that explains the reasons for the initial emergence of wave-particle duality, and is also important for string theory. The article explains the measurement problem with a more effective physical structure and ontological model.
The traditional theory of wave-particle duality holds that microscopic particles are both particles and waves. This view arises from the limitations of early experimental techniques, which equate the statistical wave behavior of a large number of particles directly with the essential properties of a single particle, leading to problems such as logical inconsistency and vague physical picture. Based on modern single-particle emission experiments and basic physical logic, this paper proposes a new explanation: the essential nature of microscopic particles is always particle, not wave; the observed wave property originates from the inherent, continuous, and omnidirectional tiny vibration of particles themselves, which is an external manifestation of particle motion rather than an intrinsic attribute. The strength of a particle’s wave property is closely related to its mass: the smaller the mass, the more significant the vibration and the stronger the wave property; the larger the mass, the weaker the vibration and the less obvious the wave property. Wave-like phenomena such as double-slit interference are the statistical distribution results of landing positions caused by the inherent vibration of numerous particles. This paper reconstructs the physical essence of wave-particle phenomena with concise and self-consistent logic, providing a more intuitive and unified new idea for understanding the microscopic world.
In matter wave interferometry, detectors detect individual particles; the wave picture (interference pattern) emerges only as a statistical aggregation, after a large number of particles have been detected. Feynman, mystified by such facts, declared that 'nobody understands quantum mechanics'. A few decades later, Ketterle summed up the situation as 'one gets used to preparing waves and detecting particles'. But why are matter waves detected only as particles? Is there a law of nature forbidding their detection as waves? This question does not seem to have been addressed. The present communication suggests that it may be possible to detect matter waves as waves if there exists a nonlocal interaction - due to wave-particle duality - that causes a nonlocal transfer of energy and momentum from microscopic objects to mesoscopic or macroscopic ones. It describes the principle of a possible wave detector and the scheme of an experiment. The experiment may be feasible in the foreseeable future with a mesoscopic detector made of carbon nanostructures, or in an earth satellite in an elliptical orbit. The detection of a single atom or molecule as a wave will have enormous consequences, both practical and conceptual.