Double Slit Experiment: New Idea About How it Works?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a new idea regarding the double slit experiment, specifically exploring how photons might interact with a hypothetical "slung off" energy that affects their path. The scope includes theoretical interpretations of quantum mechanics and the implications of observation on photon behavior.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant proposes that a photon, when passing through a slit, may "sling off" a small amount of energy that could interfere with its path, suggesting this energy is not detectable but influences the photon’s behavior.
  • Another participant notes that this idea resembles the De Broglie–Bohm theory, which offers a different description of quantum phenomena while yielding similar observational outcomes.
  • A participant expresses that Bohmian Mechanics provides a clearer understanding of quantum mechanics compared to more mysterious interpretations, indicating a preference for theories that can be tested in the future.
  • Questions arise regarding the mechanism of energy transfer from the photon, with one participant asking if it involves other photons and emphasizing that energy requires a medium for transfer.
  • Another participant suggests that the question of energy transfer only arises if one assumes the photon is localized, proposing an alternative view where a photon exists throughout space without needing additional energy clouds.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of energy transfer and the interpretation of photon behavior, indicating that multiple competing perspectives remain unresolved.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations in the assumptions made about the nature of photons and energy transfer, as well as the dependence on interpretations of quantum mechanics that are not universally accepted.

DwithQs
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I was reading about the double slit experiment, and had an idea. Can anyone tell me if there is a test which negates this idea - or if someone has proposed/proven it.

Say the photon goes through one slit, but a super small amount of energy (currently not possible to recognize as being detected) takes all other paths (in a wave pattern of the direction the photon is going) - somewhat "slung" off of the photon. That energy can collide with the photon on the other side of the slit, altering its path just like a wave does.

The act of observing absorbs that slung off energy (however we didn't detect that we observed it because it was so small). So, observing causes that tiny wave pattern energy to be absorbed, but observing doesn't absorb the photon - and the photon goes through the slit in a straight line and hits the wall like a particle. When we don't observe, the remaining "slung" off energy does go through the slit in a wave pattern and affects the course of the photon.

Larger objects would be to big to be affected by this tiny energy that is "slung" off and doesn't experience the affect and never seems to experience this wave diffraction.

If that's the case - it can remove a lot of the mystery of "when observed the photon chooses a slit" kind of thinking. Instead, when observed the slung off wave of tiny energy particles are absorbed and don't affect the photon.


Thanks,
 
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That sounds a bit like the De Broglie–Bohm theory. The observations are the same, but the description is different.
 
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Thanks MFB - I've been reading about that and Bohmian Mechanics. It is a very good explanation that -in my mind- fits better than some of the *mysterious* parts of Quantum Mechanics.

Hopefully, some of these theories will be proven or disproven through future testing.
 
By what mechanism is this energy that is "slung" off the photon being transferred? Other photons? Note that energy is not a substance and requires something to transfer it from one place to another.
 
Drakkith said:
By what mechanism is this energy that is "slung" off the photon being transferred? Other photons? Note that energy is not a substance and requires something to transfer it from one place to another.

That question only needs to arise if the photon is assumed to be localised in space. If one accepts that 'a photon' exists in all space, then it doesn't need an extra cloud of anything around it.
 

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