THE DOUBLE SLIT EXPERIMENT

 

My position on what we know about physics is that the information we have discovered clearly shows us that there is so much more for us to learn. For me the evidence starts with UFOs/ETs and Beings/Ghosts. We have thousands of years of history telling us all about these things that do not correspond with the physics we think we know. However, rather than telling ourselves that there has to be more for us to learn from these things, scientists will continue to tell us that they cannot be real because the physics we know will not allow for them. In other words, since science and physics cannot explain these things, these things cannot be real.

Well, from everything I read and research, the physics we know is telling us that there is more for us to learn. But for one reason or another today’s scientists simply want to try and built further on what we know rather than looking hard at what is known and asking questions. One of the crowning glories of quantum physics is the Standard Model of Particles. I have already written about what is one of the most glaring questions of many questions associated with the Standard Model and will post that in this blog. The questions I have are real, and they represent areas that we need to dig into rather than just ignoring them for convenience sake.

The standard model is not the only thing that points to more physics for us to learn about, there is experiment that is so ingrained in today’s quantum physics, the Double Slit Experiment that presents a huge question that needs to be answered. The Double Slit Experiment is the experiment that is responsible for giving us one of the most confusing and complicated aspects of quantum physics, Wave-Particle Duality. This is the quantum property of atoms and particles where they act like both a particle and a wave at the same time.

In 1801 physicist and physician Thomas Young performed the double slit experiment. He sent the light from the sun through a single slit, which made the sunlight somewhat in phase. After passing through the single slit the sunlight continued through to two closely spaced narrow slits. From the two slits the light went onto a screen where it showed wave interference patterns. Young’s experiment settled the debate on the nature of light and from this point on light was accepted as traveling as a wave.

Fast forward to 1961 when the first double slit experiment was done with electrons as individual particles and the wave interference pattern first observed by Young was observed with the individual electrons/particles. Further experiments done by sending single particles one at a time through the double slits still showed the wave interference pattern on the final screen. So, the wave nature of individual particles in quantum physics was verified and this is where we stand today.

However, there is a second part to the double slit experiment that I do not believe has been completely evaluation for further interpretations and conclusions. This second part is when the individual particles are measured after going through one of the slits so that it can be determined which slit the particle went through. That is it, a simple measurement telling us which slit the particle used. Well it turns out that this determination changes the whole dynamic of the experiment. There is no longer a wave interference pattern on the final screen. Rather there are just two piles or particles behind each slit. The wave is gone and the particle is acting like a particle when it hits the final screen. In other words, the simple act of measuring which slit the particle went through removes the wave nature of the particle.

So here is the question, I have a particle go through one of the slits and I measure that particle to see which slit it went through. Because of this measurement the particle is no longer a wave, it is now moving as a particle toward the final screen as clearly shown on the screen. What if right before the particle hits the screen and is brought to a stop, I move the screen an infinite distance away, or I move the screen at a speed just above that of the particle so that it cannot reach the screen? In other words, the particle is now moving through space as a particle with no wave form.

This completely upsets the wave-particle duality as now there is a particle moving through space as a only a particle with no “wave function.” The duality is gone. However, the standard answer maybe that a particle has to move through space as a wave so there must be something in quantum physics that gives the wave function back. In other words, unknown quantum magic that cannot be explained occurs and the particle regains a wave function. Or maybe there is another possible explanation, and nature is trying to tell us to dig deeper.

The double slit experiment gives us a particle without an associated wave, which is clear in the experiment itself. Additionally, without going into a lot of detail, the measurement of the slit that the particle uses corresponds with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Specifically, we measured position through the slit determination so the momentum (velocity) of the particle is still present. This accounts for the particle striking the final screen. So, if the wave is removed from the particle, and the particle still exists there are two basic questions;

Where did the wave form come from in the first place?

If there is still a wave form with the particle as it moves through space where did it come from?

Regarding the first question, how about another form of quantum entanglement? As for the second question, the answer is simple, nobody knows.

Regarding quantum entanglement, let’s recall that for this experiment there has to be a particle source, and this source has to in essence make the particles sent through the slits coherent. In other words, the source gives all of the particles a common characteristic. This common characteristic is pretty much what quantum entanglement is all about. Once you give a particle a common characteristic, it is related to other particle(s) by this consistent characteristic. In the case of the individual coherent particles, the common characteristic is the wave form embedded into the particles by the source of the particles. So, as long as you do not measure the particle position, which slit it goes through, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is intact and the particles will form the wave pattern on the final screen. This can also show in the measurement portion of the double slit experiment. Measuring the slit used removes the wave and gives a particle pattern on the final screen. Stop the measuring and the wave form returns for the individual particles on the final screen.

The wave particle duality associated with quantum physics is ingrained in so many things that are part of the physics of life. In particular atomic and molecular structures of the atoms we need and work with every day. But we really need to look at what this wave form does for us that cannot be handled in some other manner. Looking specifically at atomic structure, the wave form gives us the probability of finding an electron in a certain place. Since it is a probability, the electron may or may not be where the wave form says it is most likely to be. It could actually be in the area of the least probability. Furthermore, this wave is not static it is dynamic in that it oscillates. In other words, the position of the electron moves within its orbital, which means the most probable place the electron is supposed to be also moves which is also as expected. When we look at all of the other restrictions on electron placement in an atom, it just seems logical that the whole wave-particle duality and probability function is not the only way to find an electron.

The overriding question is why we have accepted things to be so complicated without even looking at other possible solution, especially when nature itself seems to be telling us there is more for us to find?