Can a single-slit experiment demonstrate the particle nature of light?
Can a single-slit experiment demonstrate the particle nature of light?
Ashlyn Krause
2022-07-17
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coolng90qo
Answered 2022-07-18
Author has 14 answers
Light must be quantum because it interacts with single atoms and either has an effect or does not have an effect. It has to do that in a single place. It is established that this is because of the quantum nature of light and not the quantum nature of atoms.
But to create a two-slit interference pattern it must pass through both slits at once, so it has to be in two places. It must be a wave, and be everywhere.
Feynman resolved the paradox. Light is a particle and is in exactly one place at a time. But it has a probability function that travels like a wave, that decides the probability that the photon is in each place.
So a photon is a particle that appears in every possible way to travel exactly like a wave, except when it interacts with matter and acts like a particle.
But to create a two-slit interference pattern it must pass through both slits at once, so it has to be in two places. It must be a wave, and be everywhere.
Feynman resolved the paradox. Light is a particle and is in exactly one place at a time. But it has a probability function that travels like a wave, that decides the probability that the photon is in each place.
So a photon is a particle that appears in every possible way to travel exactly like a wave, except when it interacts with matter and acts like a particle.
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