Can Quantum Waves Really Have Mass?

[Hoku]

My computer won't let me watch the video (time for a new one). Since the discusion has changed direction from my initial question, which has essentially been resolved, I think I'll begin a new thread to continue. I'll call it, "understanding waves". Hope to see you there!

EDIT: It's called "understanding duality".

 

[GreenLantern]

I don't usually consider "waves" to have mass. They're just energy that moves THROUGH mass. Light waves, sound waves, ocean waves... They are all massless energy. But I'm thinking about quantum wave/particle dualities. Electrons have mass and I'm having some trouble accepting how waves can have mass. Any insights or ideas for this seemingly trivial road-block?

I'm guessing you are referring to the age old question that many (as well as myself had initially before some more consideration) have asked when starting into QM and that is, "what happens to the properties, like mass, that are associated with particles, like electrons, when they are behaving as waves?" because as you said, waves do not have mass. But one thing you are over looking is, they have MOMENTUM! You should recall that due to its momentum light ( EM radiation/waves) actually exerts a pressure, hence why a solar sails and Crookes radiometers etc... do what they do ;) (check out Poynting vector section of physics texts. Usually this concept is talked about round about there)

The same idea goes for electron's and other quantum objects with non-zero rest mass when they are exhibiting wave behavior (are "being" waves).

Mass associated with particles <===> Momentum associated with wave

I hadn't read all the pages of this thread but I'm quite sure this is accurate and may resolve some confusion here (as always someone please politely correct me if I am wrong so I may correct my words)

-GreenLantern

<edit> I just looked at a few of the most recent posts above and noticed, WHY for the love of quanta and all that is empirical are we citing wikipedia?!?? and this what you say your "resources" are?? NO WONDER WHY YOU'RE CONFUSED! If you want to learn something and not have nearly as large of a probability that you will get crap stuck into little folds of your brain, don't read wiki. Stay away from wiki. READ A PUBLISHED TEXT! where, you know, those awesome people called editors with some credit to their name are checking the information... I could go in wiki and, as i have said before, tell you that when an electron is exhibiting particle behavior, it is really just in two dimensions, leaving our four (or 11, which ever you feel like citing) for just a moment so it can go through the single/double slit barriers... or some other stupid crap like that. ugh...i sware, a large majority of nonsense in this world wouldn't be if it weren't for wiki</edit/rant>

 

[LostConjugate]

A classical wave of some medium could be said to have mass which is proportional to the integral of the function.
For example \int e^{ikx} = ke^{ikx}

The mass is proportional to the frequency, this is because the amount of the medium per unit area is higher with higher frequency. If the wave is traveling at a constant speed the momentum increases because the mass per unit area increases.

In a wave where there is no medium the momentum remains proportional to the frequency just as if though you were adding up more medium per unit area in a classical wave. Strange connection.