Light interference : when can we observe it? : part I

Tomasz Kawalec

Ole Keller

The wave aspect of light is observed experimentally through interference phenomena, and in a certain sense such observations always require a division of the given (initial) light field into two or more space-time parts. The division can only be done by introducing matter (massive particles) in the field region, and the light-matter interaction inevitably changes the initial state of the field. Not least when one is dealing with single and few-photon interference, it is good to remember again a central point of Niels Bohr, namely that no elementary phenomenon is a phenomenon until it is a registered (observed) phenomenon. It turns out that it is possible to observe interference with a quantized electromagnetic field which contains only one photon. Since the irreversible final detection destroys the photon, it is in practice necessary to repeat the experiment starting from the same initial (given) conditions. Below we shall discuss the basics of single-photon interference in the simplest terms.

Pieter Kok

Itamar Vidal, D. P. Caetano, E. J. S. Fonseca +1 more

We report on the experimental observation of interference pattern of a distributed double-slit, consisting of a single-slit and a wire spatially separated, illuminated by two beams from a pseudothermal light source, in Hanbury Brown and Twiss–like configuration. The interference pattern is obtained performing a classical correlation with the intensities of the light beams scattered by each part of the double-slit. A theoretical analysis confirms our experimental results, showing that classical correlations can also mimic non-local properties analogue to those using twin photons for quantum images.

Pieter Kok

Xia Ruhuai

Abstract Light waves, which have almost no physical properties, are an abstract mathematical concept rather than an objective description. Confused by a set of dark and bright stripes and a sketchy schematic with little relation to the actual result, the double-slit phenomenon was misjudged as being caused by interfering light waves, but this plausible principle implies disastrous flaws. For example, (1) immediately after light passes through the double-slit device, the pattern is generated early or before interference. By changing the device-screen distance, the pattern only scales synchronously without being reconstructed by interference. The pattern with more interference points is darker, but it should be brighter. (2) Light waves can not only be subdivided into many parts but also greatly proliferate. (3) Light waves with missing leading edges outside the screen can still induce much interference. (4) Reflected light waves do not interfere. (5) The effect of polarization direction on interference should not be ignored. (6) Compared with the mathematical model, the location where the dark stripe should appear is actually the brightest spot. The formation principle of multiple regular dark stripes cannot be found. (7) To reflect the quantum property in the interference process, unless all conditions are simultaneously met, interference will not be triggered, and therefore, the principle of interference will be rejected. (8) A light source cannot be produced in a slit that may be in vacuum. (9) In the causality test, to verify the effect of collapse, the photons that have collapsed into particles should be tested again with a double-slit test. (10) The phenomenon of "observed tampering results" is obtained by observation. Has it been tampered with by observation? (11) If light is a wave, then matter and antimatter are conjoined. In conclusion, Newton's particle model is wrong, as is light wave theory.