A rational explanation of wave-particle duality of light

S. A. Rashkovskiy

doi:10.1117/12.2022585

1 October 2013 A rational explanation of wave-particle duality of light

S. A. Rashkovskiy

Proceedings Volume 8832, The Nature of Light: What are Photons? V; 88321O (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2022585
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2013, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The wave-particle duality is a fundamental property of the nature. At the same time, it is one of the greatest mysteries of modern physics. This gave rise to a whole direction in quantum physics - the interpretation of quantum mechanics. The Wiener experiments demonstrating the wave-particle duality of light are discussed. It is shown that almost all interpretations of quantum mechanics allow explaining the double-slit experiments, but are powerless to explain the Wiener experiments. The reason of the paradox, associated with the wave-particle duality is analyzed. The quantum theory consists of two independent parts: (i) the dynamic equations describing the behavior of a quantum object (for example, the Schrodinger or Maxwell equations), and (ii) the Born’s rule, the relation between the wave function and the probability of finding the particle at a given point. It is shown that precisely the Born’s rule results in paradox in explaining the wave-particle duality. In order to eliminate this paradox, we propose a new rational interpretation of the wave-particle duality and associated new rule, connecting the corpuscular and wave properties of quantum objects. It is shown that this new rational interpretation of the wave-particle duality allows using the classic images of particle and wave in explaining the quantum mechanical and optical phenomena, does not result in paradox in explaining the doubleslit experiments and Wiener experiments, and does not contradict to the modern quantum mechanical concepts. It is shown that the Born’s rule follows immediately from proposed new rules as an approximation.

Citation Download Citation

S. A. Rashkovskiy "A rational explanation of wave-particle duality of light", Proc. SPIE 8832, The Nature of Light: What are Photons? V, 88321O (1 October 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2022585

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