Wave particle duality: accept a new entity?

In summary, the conversation discusses the concept of wave-particle duality and whether it is necessary to use analogies to understand quantum physics. It is suggested that photons and electrons should be seen as entities that do not have proper analogies in daily life and that the use of mathematical expressions may be necessary to fully comprehend them. The use of classical field models is also mentioned, but it is acknowledged that they do not fully describe the features of single-photon states.
  • #1
Yaraeovento
4
0
Hi,
I have always been presented with a description of photons (and electrons more recently) as being entities that at times behave like waves and at times like particles (and I understant that typically particle is a substitude word for small little solid object of mass).

So I would like to ask the advanced students :
Would it serve me better to just regard photons and electrons as entities that are not analogous to entities we experience in everyday live, and hence have no proper analogies or nouns, and stop with this "now it's like a wave" / "oh now it's like a sphere of mass" thing ?

As opposed to:
Will I always have to keep resorting to these analogies to understand quantum physics, be it in explanations or equations?

Hope my question is not too ethereal.

Many thanks for your interest and attention.
 
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  • #2
It sometimes happens that a model of non-intuitive underlying phenomena (in the sense of "what's really going on") can only be conveyed through mathematical expressions. No direct comprehension is possible without that intermediary language. Wave-particle duality may be one of those cases.
 
  • #3
You will find many, many threads on PF discussing "wave-particle duality." It is an outdated concept. Things such as electrons are quantum objects, for which this is no complete classical equivalent. They obey a wave equation, and hence have wave-like properties, but they are still particles: electrons are always detected as you would expect for a particle (for instance, at a single location).

You can browse the threads that appear at the bottow of this page under "Similar discussions" for more detailed descriptions.
 
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  • #5
Yaraeovento said:
Would it serve me better to just regard photons and electrons as entities that are not analogous to entities we experience in everyday live, and hence have no proper analogies or nouns, and stop with this "now it's like a wave" / "oh now it's like a sphere of mass" thing ?

Yes.
 
  • #6
Indeed, and particularly photons are as far from anything in our "daily" experience, if you think in terms of a pointlike particle about it. It doesn't even have a well defined position. A much better picture is to think about it in terms of fields, but also the classical field picture is not entirely reflecting all features of a single-photon state (it's not even describable completely as a quantum mechanical "wave function", which is clear, because there's no well defined position operator...).
 
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FAQ: Wave particle duality: accept a new entity?

1. What is wave-particle duality?

Wave-particle duality is a concept in quantum mechanics that describes the dual nature of particles. It suggests that particles, such as electrons, can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behavior. This means that they can have properties of both waves and particles, depending on how they are observed.

2. What evidence supports the concept of wave-particle duality?

There are several pieces of evidence that support the concept of wave-particle duality. One of the key experiments that demonstrated this was the double-slit experiment, where particles were observed to behave like waves when passing through two closely spaced slits. Additionally, the photoelectric effect, where light behaves like particles called photons, also supports this concept.

3. How does wave-particle duality impact our understanding of the physical world?

Wave-particle duality challenges our classical understanding of the physical world, where objects are either considered to be particles or waves. It suggests that at a fundamental level, particles behave in ways that are different from our everyday experiences and that our traditional ways of thinking may not fully explain the behavior of particles.

4. How does wave-particle duality relate to the uncertainty principle?

The uncertainty principle, proposed by Werner Heisenberg, states that the more precisely we know the position of a particle, the less we know about its momentum, and vice versa. This is closely related to wave-particle duality because it suggests that particles do not have a well-defined position or momentum, but rather exist as a probability distribution of both.

5. How does wave-particle duality impact modern technology?

The concept of wave-particle duality has greatly impacted modern technology. For example, the development of the transistor, which is the basic building block of modern electronics, relies on the principles of wave-particle duality. Additionally, technologies such as electron microscopy, which uses the wave-like properties of electrons, would not be possible without our understanding of wave-particle duality.

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