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Routledge eBooks

Quantum Mirror

Paul Thomas

Published Oct 20, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In the context of this book, composed of a series of quantum and artistic reflections, the concept of mirroring plays a unique role. Quantum mirroring, viewed through an artistic lens, carries a poetic yet complex simplicity. Like many quantum phenomena, it reignites curiosity about how we as humans engage with the world. The phenomenon occurs when an electron or photon sees itself reflected in the mirror-like surface of mercury. 1 The self-awareness of a submolecular particle continues the theme of the dual-slit experiment. In this case, we encounter a form of narcissism at the quantum level. We’ve already touched on the flâneur, but now we turn to the electron or photon, which, once observed, changes from a wave to a particle. However, when it appears as a reflection in mercury, it creates a constant oscillation between wave and particle duality.

DOI
10.4324/9781003683285-15

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In the context of this book, composed of a series of quantum and artistic reflections, the concept of mirroring plays a unique role. Quantum mirroring, viewed through an artistic lens, carries a poetic yet complex simplicity. Like many quantum phenomena, it reignites curiosity about how we as humans engage with the world. The phenomenon occurs when an electron or photon sees itself reflected in the mirror-like surface of mercury. 1 The self-awareness of a submolecular particle continues the theme of the dual-slit experiment. In this case, we encounter a form of narcissism at the quantum level. We’ve already touched on the flâneur, but now we turn to the electron or photon, which, once observed, changes from a wave to a particle. However, when it appears as a reflection in mercury, it creates a constant oscillation between wave and particle duality.
An Electron in the Mirror It was a morning in the microcosm of subatomic particles and a small electron woke up in a corner of the universe. Looking in the mirror, he saw just an empty reflection. His mind was full of questions “Who am I?”, and “What am I made of?”. “How do others see me in this vast world of particles?”. The electron felt lonely, a tiny particle among many others, apparently without any distinctive features. As he was meditating on his existence, an unexpected friend appeared: the photon. Being, as usual, bright and lively, he immediately noticed the gloomy mood of the electron. “Ele, why are you so sad?”, the photon asked, enlightening the surrounding environment with his bright light. “Don’t worry, I’m on it!” The photon gathered all of his energy and, with a spark of bright light, transferred part of his vitality to the electron. The electron was immediately filled with an overwhelming energy, similar to a rocket just launched into orbit. He quickly lifted up, surpassing other particles around him. As he was going up, the electron felt light-hearted, free, and full of life but, at a certain point, the force of attraction toward the nucleus prevailed and the electron started to fall back. However, this fall was not ordinary. It was as if he was sliding down a celestial descent, leaving behind a bright, green, and iridescent glow. While the electron was floating in space, he started to perceive a strange duality. He felt now diffused, as a wave of energy extending in all directions and then absorbed and contained, as a bright spot in a vast subatomic sky. Subsequently, like a green-colored comet, the electron landed gently in front of the mirror. He looked at himself, but now he saw a completely different reflection. It was a sparkling entity, a blaze of colors that radiated in every direction. “Wow!”, the electron exclaimed, still stunned by the transformation. “Thanks, my dear friend, I could never imagine I would be able to be so bright and vibrant.”. The photon smiled, glad to have brought joy to his friend. “ Remember, Ele, we are all connected in this subatomic universe”. Each particle has its uniqueness, its property to share with the others: “My dear friend”, the electron asked the photon, “Who am I, actually? Am I a spreading wave or a focused point?”. The photon replied: “Ele, like me, you are both. We particles are a wave and a point at the same time, and this duality is part of our quantum nature. Our existence is a dance between a wave-corpuscle dualism and it is exactly this duality that makes us special”. The electron reflected upon these words as he continued his subatomic dance. Now, he could spread like a wave, interacting with the other particles in a more subtle way, but at the same time, he was able to focus on a point, intensely affecting the environment. The understanding of this duality added a new dimension to his existence and the electron felt even more connected to the essence of the subatomic world. He danced between these dualities, embracing his quantum nature with grace and curiosity. The photon smiled, observing the electron moving through his new awareness: “You see, Ele, your essence is like a quantum symphony, a melody of waves and particles that intertwine harmoniously. Accept your duality and continue to shine in your uniqueness. Thus, the electron continued his dance in the microcosm, bringing with him the awareness of his quantum duality. Wave and particle, light and matter, the small electron became a harmonious expression of the complexity underlying the subatomic world.
Abstract Quantum physics is often perceived as a weird and abstract theory, which physicists must use in order to make correct predictions. But many recent experiments have shown that the weirdness of the theory simply mirrors the weirdness of phenomena: it is Nature itself, and not only our description of it, that behaves in an astonishing way. This book selects those, among these typical quantum phenomena, whose rigorous description requires neither the formalism, nor an important background in physics. The first part of the book deals with the phenomenon of single-particle interference, covering the historical questions of wave-particle duality, objective randomness and the boundary between the quantum and the classical world, but also the recent idea of quantum cryptography. The second part introduces the modern theme of entanglement, by presenting two-particle interference phenomena and discussing Bell’s inequalities. A concise review of the main interpretations of quantum physics is provided.
The simplest but deepest questions of the philosophy of quantum mechanics are these: Are quantum systems waves, or are they particles? Are they both or are they neither? When light bounces an electron out of the surface of an alkali metal it behaves like a particle. Light carries momentum but also a punch. Just as there is no such thing as half a punch, so there is no such thing as half a quantum of light. On the other hand, the shadow formed on a screen by an object has soft edges, edges which get softer as the object is moved away from the screen. Light exhibits the phenomena of diffraction and interference and so is wavelike. This dual behaviour of light, and indeed of matter itself, is called wave-particle duality. The wave nature of a quantum system is reflected in wave mechanics which assigns a wave-function to the system. But the dual nature of light was noticed before Schrodinger developed the wave-mechanical formalism in 1926. In fact, it goes back at least as far as Einsteins explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905. Wave-particle duality is not something that arises within the quantum mechanical formalism. It is something which is expressed within it, and is something which is best discussed in terms of the paradoxes that quantum experiments force upon physics. In fact, the simplest and most immediately disturbing of the quantummechanical paradoxes arise out of wave-particle duality. We take the two-slit experiment and the delayed-choice experiment as examples.
A quantum particle is an elementary or a composite particle having a mass value lower than the Planck mass, and so it is subjected to a self-actuated jittery motion instead of a translational motion due to gravitation, however, under an exogenous cause it may undertake motion in space along with a waveform comprising of virtual particles created out of space. As a result it appears as a wave-particle unity instead of duality with its wave and particle nature simultaneously interacting with the conventional dual slit(s) or the input-output beam splitters causing interference even under delayed-choice scenario, provided it continues to remain in the quantum domain. Any observation made on the quantum particle by an external source will render it out of the quantum domain by imparting additional energy and then it will behave like a particle only. Thus reality of nature is a true spectacle and an unambiguous manifestation in the universe at all times.
Quantum mechanics, as a fundamental theory describing the microscopic world, has driven a revolution in physics over the past century. The wave-particle duality of electrons, as one of the core features of quantum mechanics, challenges the traditional understanding of matter in classical physics. Through wave-particle duality, electrons exhibit wave-like behavior in certain experiments and particle-like properties in others. This paper explores key concepts of quantum mechanics, such as the wave function and the Schrödinger equation, and verifies the wave and particle nature of electrons through experiments such as the double-slit experiment and Compton scattering. In addition, this paper discusses the integration of quantum field theory and quantum mechanics, emphasizing the profound impact of electron duality on modern physics and quantum technology. With the continuous development of quantum technology, the duality of electrons not only provides a theoretical foundation for fields such as quantum computing and quantum communication but also offers new directions for technological innovation in the future.
Traditional quantum mechanics explains single-slit diffraction and double-slit interference using wave–particle duality, claiming that photons exhibit both particle and wave properties and can produce self-interference to form light–dark patterns. This paper proposes a new theory: photons always move in uniform linear motion, accompanied by 360° omnidirectional, random, uncontrollable microscopic tremor during propagation. The patterns observed in single-slit and double-slit experiments are macroscopic phenomena formed by collision, reflection, and angular deflection of photons with slit walls due to their inherent tremor, followed by geometric amplification and statistical superposition of numerous photon trajectories. No patterns appear without a baffle because photons do not collide with any wall; no patterns appear with an overly wide slit because photons still pass through without touching the walls. Patterns emerge only when the slit is narrow enough to cause photon–wall collisions. When photons collide with atoms on the slit walls, electrons undergo energy level transitions and emit secondary light; superposition of secondary light from different directions forms alternating bright and dark fringes. This paper designs a carbon nanotube light-absorbing/non-absorbing control experiment and a receiver backplate distance variation auxiliary experiment, both of which provide quantitative and measurable evidence for the theory and form a complete logical closed loop, indicating that the wave–particle duality interpretation is untenable.