Special Relativity (SR) is the cornerstone for modern physics and variety of applications. SR is based on two postulates, the principle of relativity (the first postulate) and the principle of constancy of speed of light (the second postulate). Recently we have (1) shown that the light propagate as particles/photons in the "pure" wave experiments, such as in double slit and grating experiments; (2) proposed experiments to measure the speed of the photons by an observer moving relative to the source and thus, to test the second postulate for photons. In this article we propose a classroom experiment to test the second postulate. If the experiments show the existence of interference pattern (the negative result), the constancy of the speed of the photons holds, namely the second postulate of SR is experimentally confirmed. If the experiments show no interference pattern (positive result), then the propagation speed of photons is not constant, namely, the second postulate of SR is disproved. Either negative result or positive results would be profoundly significant.
Special Relativity (SR) is the cornerstone for modern physics and variety of applications. SR is based on two postulates, the principle of relativity (the first postulate) and the principle of constancy of speed of light (the second postulate). Recently we have (1) shown that the light propagate as particles/photons in the "pure" wave experiments, such as in double slit and grating experiments; (2) proposed experiments to measure the speed of the photons by an observer moving relative to the source and thus, to test the second postulate for photons. In this article we propose a classroom experiment to test the second postulate. If the experiments show the existence of interference pattern (the negative result), the constancy of the speed of the photons holds, namely the second postulate of SR is experimentally confirmed. If the experiments show no interference pattern (positive result), then the propagation speed of photons is not constant, namely, the second postulate of SR is disproved. Either negative result or positive results would be profoundly significant.
Special Relativity (SR) is the cornerstone for modern physics and variety of applications. SR is based on two postulates, the principle of relativity (the first postulate) and the principle of constancy of speed of light (the second postulate). Recently we have (1) shown that the light propagate as particles/photons in the “pure” wave experiments, such as double slit and grating experiments; (2) proposed experiments to measure the speed of the photons by an observer moving relative to the source and thus, to test the second postulate for photons. In this article we propose a classroom experiment to test the second postulate. If the experiments show the existence of interference pattern (the negative result), the constancy of the speed of the photons holds, namely the second postulate of SR is experimentally confirmed. If the experiments show no interference pattern (positive result), then the propagation speed of photons is not constant, namely, the second postulate of SR is disproved. Either negative result or positive results would be profoundly significant.
Special Relativity (SR) is the cornerstone for modern physics and variety of applications. SR is based on two postulates, the principle of relativity (the first postulate) and the principle of constancy of speed of light (the second postulate). Recently we have (1) shown that the light propagate as particles/photons in the “pure” wave experiments, such as double slit and grating experiments; (2) proposed experiments to measure the speed of the photons by an observer moving relative to the source and thus, to test the second postulate for photons. In this article we propose a classroom experiment to test the second postulate. If the experiments show the existence of interference pattern (the negative result), the constancy of the speed of the photons holds, namely the second postulate of SR is experimentally confirmed. If the experiments show no interference pattern (positive result), then the propagation speed of photons is not constant, namely, the second postulate of SR is disproved. Either negative result or positive results would be profoundly significant.
Young’s double slit experiments, which represent the mystery of quantum mechanics, have been interpreted by quantum probability waves and pilot waves. In this article, to study the mystery, we introduce the “virtual box” which represents the slide of double-slit and its right-hand neighborhood. Within, and only within, the “virtual box” the standard wave interference patterns are formed. We propose and carry out “comprehensive double slit experiments” that show that, first, light travelling from a laser source towards the slides of double slit and/or cross-double slit behaves as particle (postulate-1), and second, after leaving the "virtual box" zone and being directed towards the detector, the light behaves as a stream of photons (postulate-2) with no further interference due to the slits. On the one hand, the interference patterns do exist in the comprehensive-double slit experiments. On the other hand, we show four novel phenomena: (1) the fringes of the interference patterns are formed independently; (2) the fringes of the interference patterns can be formed partially; (3) the longitudinal shields do not disturb the interference patterns; and (4) the range of the virtual box is less than one inch. These novel phenomena indicate that photons behave as particles, and would not be expected if photons behave as waves created by the double slit and/or cross double slit. The comprehensive-double slit experiments show the coexistence of wave distribution and particle nature of photons in the same experiment, which violates complementarity principle and thus, seems a paradox. We suggest an interpretation to address the paradox. All observations of the comprehensive-double slit experiments are consistent. Progress in studying the mystery of the double slit experiment is presented.
In the double-slit interference experiment with light, once one of the slits is instantaneously closed, the point H on the screen directly opposite the other slit will experience a change in the intensity of light at that point. Moreover, the time it takes for the intensity of light at point H to change after the slit is closed is shorter than the time it takes for light from the slit to reach point H. This indicates that information is transmitted from the slit to point H on the screen at a speed faster than the speed of light c. This does not violate Relativity, as it does not conflict with the Principle of Constancy of Light Velocity. The transmission speed of information within a wave packet of photons is not solely determined by the Principle of Constancy of Light Velocity. Information is transmitted at varying speeds within the wave packet. In the direction parallel to the propagation of the photons, the speed of information transmission matches c. However, in other directions, the speed of information transmission can exceed c.
In the double-slit interference experiment with light, once one of the slits is instantaneously closed, the point H on the screen directly opposite the other slit will experience a change in the intensity of light at that point. Moreover, the time it takes for the intensity of light at point H to change after the slit is closed is shorter than the time it takes for light from the slit to reach point H. This indicates that information is transmitted from the slit to point H on the screen at a speed faster than the speed of light c. This does not violate Relativity, as it does not conflict with the Principle of Constancy of Light Velocity. The transmission speed of information within a wave packet of photons is not solely determined by the Principle of Constancy of Light Velocity. Information is transmitted at varying speeds within the wave packet. In the direction parallel to the propagation of the photons, the speed of information transmission matches c. However, in other directions, the speed of information transmission can exceed c.
Concerning the constancy of the speed of light, we indicate that Feynman's sum-over-paths theory of quantum mechanics implicitly relates also to velocities of a photon from C to infinity through the paths, and not only to paths alone taken by the photon. We suggest a modification of Feynman's approach according to which every single photon not only travels from source to destination in all possible paths, but also in all the velocities from zero to infinity, through each of the paths. Matter, however (as already suggested by Israel Shapira several years ago), is tuned to interact with photons only at the special relative velocity C. It follows that the behavior of light as stated by the second postulate of special relativity can result from this suggested physics. We propose experimental setups that challenge special relativity in this regard.