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Oxford University Press eBooks

A Parenthesis on Quantum Mechanics

Alvaro De Rújula

Published Jul 26, 2018• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

ty principle. Illustrated with the classic example of the two-slit experiment, Nature’s way of implementing a particular zen dictum. The behavior of waves and bullets when encountering an obstacle.
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780198817802.003.0009

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In 1963, Richard Feynman gave a memorable lecture on quantum mechanics' strange and non-intuitive nature. Using the example of two-slit self-interference, he showed how quantum entities such as electrons appear to traverse two passages at once. While Feynman's analogy beautifully captures the strangeness of quantum behavior, it leaves open the definition of "particle." A few additions to his thought experiment provide another insight: Experimentally, the only definition of a particle possible is that it is a sequence of expanding quantum waves punctuated by minute exchanges of momentum and energy that relocalize and restart the wave. This article uses Dibyajyoti Das's beautifully done adaptation of Feynman’s thought experiments to precisely assess what it takes to make an electron act like a bullet.
We test the validity of Feynman's idea that a two-slit experiment performed with classical objects (bullets) does not produce observable interference fringes on the detection screen because the Compton's wavelength of the bullets is so tiny, that no real detector could resolve individual interference fringes, thus producing only an average signal which is the observed smooth curve. To test this idea, we study the two-slit experiment in two different situations using light to simulate both wave-like and particle-like bullets. In the first case, we consider coherent light with short wavelengths and in the second case incoherent light with not-so-short wavelength. While in the former case (simulating Feynman's wave-like bullets) the interference fringes are so dense that they cannot be resolved by a detector, therefore resulting in an averaged smooth signal, in the latter case (simulating Feynman's particle-like bullets), although the detector is fully capable of discriminating each fringe, the observed classical smooth pattern limit is produced because of the lack of spatial coherence of the impinging field.