Duality Definition and 270 Threads

according to wave particle duality particles such as electrons exhibit wave like properties. and the wavelngth is given by lambda=h/p, so increase momentum and get shorter lambda. This property is utilised in the electron microscope to get very short wavelengths and so have very high...

Does the wave–particle duality apply only to electrons and photons?

Hi all. First of all I want to say that I am new here and I want to apologise if this is the wrong forum to post my question. :) I've just finished a sort of a crash course on functional analysis that left much more questions in me than it answered but one thing bothers me a lot. When we talk...

Correct me if I'm wrong. The wave function of a particle collapses when you observe/measure it? Because that you essentially disturb it. Right? So how is it that we see rainbows then if it's wave function collapses as we observe it? And how is it that we are able to split white light into...

As a professional novelist, I see wave particle duality in all things including arts. For instance a book written in the first person (I) is the particle viewpoint just as the 3rd person represents one bifurcation of the wave function viewpoint. I see wave particle duality everywhere. Take...

Why is it that the relativity of simultaneity isn't used to explain wave/particle duality? RoS requires that matter be in different places according to the speed of the observer. All observers are equally correct. This would seem to require that particles posses a wave characteristic...

The basis of the well known experiment is to fire one photon at a double slit 'wall' and measure the wave pattern produced on a screen behind it. Now as is evident, one particle is seen to act like a wave, which is a fundamental contradiction. I have couple of fundamental questions...

I understand that: 1. Electrons can interact with each other in both particle-like and wave-like ways (eg. can exhibit wavelike interference in double slit experiment) 2. Photons can interact with each other in both particle-like and wave-like ways 3. Electrons and photons can interact...

"I’m writing a paper called “Division algebras and quantum theory”, which is mainly about how quantum theory can be formulated using either the real numbers ℝ, the complex numbers ℂ, or the quaternions ℍ — and how these three versions are not really separate alternatives (as people often seem to...

Hi , I need help from someone who has worked out the distance duality relation (between angular diameter distance and the luminosity distance).I am having trouble deriving it and the Etherington paper is a bit too tough for me where it was first discussed (1933). In one of the reviews its...

Homework Statement Some electrons are accelerated through a P.d. of 500 V. [e = 1.6x10^-19 C, mass of electron = 9.1x10^-31 Kg, h = 6.6x10^-34 Js.] 1. What is the kinetic energy of one of the electrons in eV? 2. What is the velocity of one of the electrons? 3. What is the...

Ok so from my understanding, the wave particle duality of matter is simply the fact that matter sometimes behaves as a wave and sometimes behaves as a particle. Ok, but I wonder if this has anything to do with the wavefunction. The wave function gives us the probability spread of matter at any...

Hello, I have some questions, but I'm not posting on quantum mechanics because as written in the FAQ, wave-particle duality is not really the realm of quantum mechanics, but is only a way for us to imagine what's going on. Is it true that the uncertainty on the location \Deltax, is in fact...

This problem borders with the question of either wave only or particle only descriptions of duality, and I think it could possibly even end up being a personal opinion of the (hopefully qualified) repliers. In a normal atom, are there electrons orbiting around the nucleus? [This seems like a...

I, as with Albert Einstein, shall always side with Issac Newton; that is to say, that light is corpuscular. There is no such thing as a light 'wave'. Sure, Thomas Young threw the world of physics a curveball in 1802, backed by Huygens and his somewhat sound reasoning (for the time). But who...

I am extremely confused when it comes to particle-wave duality outside of the electromagnetic spectrum and quantum world. Are sound waves strictly waves or do they have "particle"-like aspects? I understand that every particle has its own wave. Does this apply to every wave having a...

Hello all, Recently I have read something about duality between vector spaces, however my intuition towards this is not clear. Wish someone can give me a hint. Recall the definition of a dual pair is a 3-tuple (X,Y,\langle \cdot , \cdot \rangle) , so essentially duality between vector...

Hi all! Couple days ago my friend asked me about the following. He said: [PLAIN]http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/2886/dualism.png I have explained it to him in this way. The meaning of the quantum theory of light is NOT that we consider the light as being a gas of particles with...

This is going to be a little weird so please bear with me for a moment. Based on the results of experiments like the delayed choice quantum eraser it would seem that you could use one of these experiments to determine the results of a future random event. Say for example you ran a series of...

I didn't notice this paper, until it was featured today on TR: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/25214/?ref=rss http://arxiv.org/abs/1005.3537 MONDian Dark Matter Chiu Man Ho, Djordje Minic, Y. Jack Ng (Submitted on 19 May 2010) We provide a holographic dual description...

Hi All, I'm nk and new to your forum! Pl., excuse my editing skills just this post. I'll catch on fast-promise! It is known that "In physics and chemistry, wave–particle duality is the concept that all matter exhibits both wave-like and particle-like properties."-Reference...

I'm thinking about the wave/particle duality and I have a few questions about it. Question: How do we know a particle is also a wave if we can't measure it as one? Answer: The double slit experiment, for example, allows us to INFERE the wave nature of particles because of the way multiple...

Hi, I’ve got a general question about wave-particle duality, and the experiments done with slits. When a laser is beamed through a small slit, we get a diffraction pattern. This pattern is interesting because it contains dark bands. When it comes to explaining the existence of...

Just two days ago I attended a lecture held by a professor at UiO who discussed the need to resolve the wave/particle duality model of light. He was unsatisfied by the deterministic approach to the problem (Bohr's principle). In general, he viewed the photon model as poorly defined and poorly...

What do we actualy mean a matter or particle having both wave and matter properties, and do the electrons occilate that means it has both up and down with the translational motion around the atom!

Hello. Why would a double-slit experiment for things like bullets being fired from a gun that shoots in random directions produce a probability distribution like those of objects or particles, but the double-slit experiment for an electron gun produce a wave-like interference pattern? I read...

Note this is more of a coursework understanding question rather than a specific homework question. Homework Statement I have been reading about matter waves and de Broglie relations which suggest that electrons can act as waves. From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_wave) it...

What is meant by ths wave-particle duality of electrons?

Hi! I have been reading a little about quantum physics (I am in no way a physicist or scientist), and am trying to get my head round Wave / Particle duality. The only way I can visualise it is similar to the way to dsp / computer audio; a stream of particles oscillating in space. Particles...

I was just wondering about, after I had read about this topic. Which consequences did it have on physics that we can consider light as waves in some experiments and as particles (photons, quanta) in other experiments. And maybe even if all matter can have the same properties as light?

Homework Statement Microscopes are inherently limited by the wavelength of the light used. How much smaller (in order of magnitude) can we "see" using an electron microscope whose electrons have been accelerated through a potential difference of 50,000V than using red light(500nm)...

Ok, if a particle is a wave and can diffract (e.g. through graphite sheet), I mean does the particle split into two or something, or does the particle somehow 'transform' into a wave? I am always inquisitive about this question.

does Alexander duality commute with cup product?

so basically a wave particle duality principle state that sometimes a "matter" would behave as a particle and a wave a another time. The was to reconcile this is through QM's statistical interpretation and the math construct is very obvious that such proposed matter is indeed a wave-particle in...

As every condensed-matter physicist knows, a phonon is a quantum of sound (or more precisely, of oscillations in a condensed-matter material). Clearly, sound is a wave. But quantum theory teaches us that, in a certain sense, sound is also a particle. Here I want to understand how far the view of...

There's a very useful FAQ entitled IS LIGHT A WAVE OR A PARTICLE? It carefully warns against confusing a "particle" of light with a regular particle. I have a funny feeling I may be doing this... hence the need for a clarification! When considering light as a wave; should I consider that...

Hello all, does anybody know what means duality pairing in connection with functional. For example limE\rightarrow0\frac{\partial}{\partialE}F(u+Ev)=<DF(u),v>. Where F is functional F:K\rightarrowR. Thank You for answers.

This subject came up in some notes on linear algebra I'm reading and I don't get it. Please help me understand. -- First, the relevant background and notation relating to my question: Let S be a nonempty set and F be a field. Denote by l(S) the family of all F-valued functions on S and...

light is known to have a wave-particle duality which of the 2 explain lights behavior best and which one is widely accepted?

Hi, Originally this was going to be about duality of electron but after deeper study I decided against it. This is what I understand thus far -- please feel free to correct me! The electron is the fundamental stuff that expresses both mass and charge. The charge of the electron is opposite...

Hi, please excuse what is probably a very basic question. I'm abit confused about some of the things I've read about quantum mechanics (can you blame me?). The main thing I'm trying to understand is the reality of duality and superposition. I've heard it said that these concepts are merely...

Please, can someone explain how uncertainity principle explains the wave-particle duality nature of matter and radiation.

After completing a course in Quantum Mechanics and feeling rather dissatisfied with my physical understanding of the theory, I turned to Introductory Quantum Mechanics by Liboff, as I was advised that it was a much more clear treatment. I have barely started reading it and I am already immensely...

I placed it in here because it does have to do with homework, though it is not a numerical problem. The Problem I have to do an Extended Essay in Physics and Quantum mechanics really interest me. What I was planning on doing was doing an experiment with the Wave-Particle Duality experiment...

What is Alexander-Whitney duality?

if matter in QM is considered to be more like waves with that particle duality what happens when a force is applied in QM, is it like classical where the force is a vector or does that change also in QM.

I have three points: 1. According to wave-particle duality, even regular matter can be classified as a wave instead of a particle, for example, an electron or a neutron. My question is, what is this a wave of? A photon is a wave of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. Are electrons, say...

Hi, I have a rather conceptual question about the exact duality between passive and active transformations in general relativity in order to fully understand the concept of diffeomorphism invariance ( I've read most of the topics about this subject here on PF ). I found an article about this by...

Hi, A friend and I have been having a long standing debate on the nature of light, being an uneducated layman I tend to stick to the conventional interpretation of wave-particle duality but my friend maintains that light is solely a wave. He found this link at [link to crackpot website...

hello members of www.physicsforums.com ! primarily i want to apologize for the double thread post; i posted another thread at this link: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=1950906#post1950906 and i am afraid it was homework and i did not see the homework section so please forgive...