patterns; something no classical particle can do – it is a characteristic property of waves. In a famous experiment done by the Hitachi team26, single electrons were sent one by one through an appropriate system (equivalent to the Young slit experiment for light). The resulting interference pattern demonstrated the “wave-like” nature of the electrons. In this experiment, each electron interferes only with itself, since they Hitachi group interference pattern were sent one by one… It is impossible to understand this experiment, and many others, without considering that the electron possesses some properties of a wave. Quantum mechanics resolves the situation by considering each quantum object as a “wave function”, a quantum wave that can mimic either the properties of a classical particle in some situation, or that of a wave in other situation. The quantum theory gives a full set of mathematical laws for handling these objects; it does not say why it is so, but reality seems to follow these rules. In this framework, a quantum object is a wave with some added properties that quantify the different values it can reach, giving the quantum wave a kind of granularity that the classical wave lack: it is not a wave, and is not a particle, but it has Double slit interference of waves some properties that we attribute to waves or particles when one tries to think in the framework of classical physics. Waves can produce characteristic patterns when interfering. Single electrons, going through an appropriate system, can produce a similar pattern. This shows that the “particle” description does not fit quantum objects27. 26
See http://www.hitachi.com/rd/research/em/doubleslit.html See for instance http://youtube.com/watch?v=ViQoUXu5uK0, http://youtube.com/watch?v=oxknfn97vFE and http://youtube.com/watch?v=oUolVZIuv18 27
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