Abstract There has been wide interest in splitter, quantum tunneling, and double-slit experiments for a long time. The states of single material particles are typically explained as being independent of other objects (and/or electromagnetic fields) and interactions. This independence causes counterintuitive explanations. By analyzing the research conducted separately by Wineland's group and Haroche's group, we naturally deduced that the states are dependent on other objects. Based on this dependence, our unified explanation is more intuitive. We design a double-slit thought experiment that can solve the center problem, i.e., which-path information. The dependence can also work for qubits in quantum information. To emphasize and use the dependence in the future, we propose a fundamental postulate that no material particle is free as the zeroth postulate of quantum mechanics.
Abstract There has been wide interest in splitter, quantum tunneling, and double-slit experiments for a long time. The states of single material particles are typically explained as being independent of other objects (and/or electromagnetic fields) and interactions. This independence causes counterintuitive explanations. By analyzing the research conducted separately by Wineland's group and Haroche's group, we naturally deduced that the states are dependent on other objects. Based on this dependence, our unified explanation is more intuitive. We design a double-slit thought experiment that can solve the center problem, i.e., which-path information. The dependence can also work for qubits in quantum information. To emphasize and use the dependence in the future, we propose a fundamental postulate that no material particle is free as the zeroth postulate of quantum mechanics.
This paper reviews the partial contents of our two manuscripts displayed on arXiv and the nine published papers in some journals, and offers some new expressions. These contents explore the interpretation or research of some concepts and quantum phenomena in quantum mechanics, including foundational or fundamental issues, which delve into deeper questions beneath the basic principles. In our research, we primarily focus on the absence of interaction, or restore the external field potential energy to the interaction energy and consider the related environment qualitatively. We offer a slightly more accessible explanation for several typical quantum phenomena explained using counterintuitive coherent superposition states, summarizing that the wave nature of a particle, i.e., coherent superposition, originates from the interaction of a particle with the environment. We try to propose adding a new postulate to the fundamental postulates or principles of quantum mechanics, which we call the zeroth postulate: any material particle is not free, meaning that the interaction between a particle with its environment cannot be zero. This provides a possible foundation for understanding the wave nature of microscopic particles in quantum mechanics, specifically the coherent superposition pure states. To put this into practice, we propose a new double-slit experiment, hoping that someone will conduct it and predicting that the experimental results will show interference patterns while also identifying which slit a particle has passed through, thus resolving the which-way dilemma. Additionally, we provide explanations for quantum measurements and conservation laws different from those in general books of quantum mechanics.
In response to Orion and Laitman’s [1] explanation of the classic double-slit experiment of quantum mechanics, we propose an alternate explanation of that experiment by treating physical degrees of freedom as a conserved physical quantity, instead of referring to “vague terms” used in previous explanations, [1], that are not broadly applicable. Explanation in [1] refers to properties of groups of particles, even though the double-slit experiment’s results should address only to a single particle. By using physical degrees of freedom and the application of Hamilton’s principle, we obtain a single particle explanation of the double-slit experiment in terms of properties and via methods which apply equally in a quantum and a classical regime.
This paper proposes a physically grounded interpretation of quantum measurement in which superposition is the natural state of isolated systems, while particle-like outcomes arise from inevitable physical interactions with the environment or measuring devices. The approach retains the standard mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics but reorganizes its conceptual structure to place interaction—understood as the exchange of energy, momentum, or information—at the center of the measurement process. It offers a unified explanation of the double-slit, delayed-choice, and quantum-eraser experiments, and suggests experimentally testable ways to link interaction strength to decoherence and the emergence of classicality.
Field-Theoretic Explanation of Wave-Particle Duality—Unification of Particle Locality and the Wave Nature of the Perturbation Field This paper provides a physical explanation of the most central puzzle in quantum mechanics—wave-particle duality—without relying on "probability-amplitude collapse" or "nonlocal entanglement." This theory divides all matter in the universe into Nie-matter entities (massive, Staticity) and Ji-matter entities (massless, Dynamicity), and maintains that quantum objects (electrons, neutrons, etc.) are always localized Nie-matter entity particles. Their "wave behavior" originates from the particle's local perturbation of the Ji-matter field that already fills space during motion—the perturbation propagates in the form of a wave, produces an interference field when passing through the double slits, and the interference field in turn guides the particle's landing position. The particle always passes through only one slit, while the field passes through both slits simultaneously; interference is the behavior of the field, not the behavior of the particle. This mechanism naturally explains double-slit interference, the coexistence of neutron collisions and wave behavior, the disturbance of interference fringes by observation devices, and the variation of interference contrast with source offset and slit spacing. This paper further gives three falsifiable predictions: P6-1 (a decisive distinction between device field-strength disturbance and which-path information disturbance), P6-2A (the disturbance effect varies continuously with field strength), and P6-2B (an argument for the explanatory power of double-slit interference contrast—naturally derived from one mechanism vs. jointly explained by four independent concepts). Compared with mainstream theory, this theory does not need "wavefunction collapse," does not need "nonlocality," and does not need "many worlds"—it only needs to acknowledge: particles are localized, the field fills space, and the motion of particles is guided by the local field gradient.
Young's double slit experiments representing the mystery of quantum mechanics have been descripted by wave theories. To study the mystery, the double slit experiments were extended to the cross-double slit experiments. A description should explain all the double slit and cross-double slit experiments consistently. To test the wave description, the two postulates are proposed, which state that before passing through the double slit and before landing on the detector, photons behave as particles, but not as waves. To test the two postulates, the comprehensive double slit/cross-double slit experiments are proposed and performed. By placing shields and/or blockers near the detector/screen, the comprehensive double slit/cross-double slit experiments show that the fringes are created independently and partially, which discloses the particle nature of photons in the double slit/crossdouble slit experiments and violates the wave descriptions. The comprehensive double slit/cross-double slit experiments provide the comprehensive phenomena for developing theoretical model to study the mystery of double slit, complementarity principle, wave-particle duality, and wave theory of light.
This paper aims to understand how sequential, separate and independent impacts of particles on the screen of a double-slit experiment produce an interference pattern when both slits are open and how no such pattern is produced when detectors are placed at the slits. These strange phenomena can be explained by conjecturing the existence of a certain " thickness " of time. This conjecture is falsifiable, fits the observed results and maximizes simplicity for explaining other quantum phenomena without contradicting the established principles and laws of quantum mechanics.