dextercioby said:
The photon is a particle...Period. ...
I hope you will acknowledge the following facts about that "particle" and reconsider your view.
With a low pressure gas discharge light source of "particles" and some simple colored glass filters, it is possible to make a beam of light in which all of the "particles" have essentially the same energy. If this mono-energetic beam is then made to pass thru a highly reflecting (but very slightly transmitting) "mirror" set at 45 degrees to the beam direction, then the few "particles" that do pass thru and continue on in the original beam direction can be so infrequent that 99+ percent of them are the only "particle" existing during their flight time. That is, less than 1% of the time would there be two particles existing at the same time. Even in the rare event that two were "alive" at the same time, they are not likely to near each other and interact with any matter they come near completely independently. (To keep the room very dark, the reflected beam, should enter the open end of a long cone with very black interior and the light source is completely covered except for the path of the beam.)
Now if in this weak beam of "particles", two fine parallel slits, quite close together are placed and behind the mask in which these slits were cut in, there is a piece of photographic film (Also covered except for the path from the slits so it is in a very dark region and long exposures are possible). (The film is not in contact with the slit mask, but perhaps 40 times the slit separation behind it, or more if coarse grained film is used.) Then the distribution of exposed areas on the file will have the same pattern as if a short exposure were made with the slightly transparent "mirror" removed.
Each of these "particles" (in some sense difficult for humans to understand) goes thru both slits. After a large number of them have passed thru the slits, one at a time, the "interference pattern" characteristic of "waves" is exposed on the photographic film.
Summary: In some experimental arrangements, these "particles",
observed individually, one at at time, exhibit all of the characteristics of "waves" and none of the characteristic of "particles." For this reason it is not correct to make the statement you emphatically do, quoted above.
Technical note for thoses who like to be careful with the facts: The long exposure
pattern will be exactly the same, (size and shape) but the intensity distribution will not be. The weakly exposed areas will be even weaker in the long exposure than they were in the short exposure.
The failure of slowly delivered photons to produce the same exposure is called the "reciprocity failure." It is has to due with fact that a second photon must strike the same photographic grain, before the effects of the first (Production of a "color center" like lattice defect.) has relaxed back to the undisturbed state. - In typical use of a film camera, with sub-second exposures, it makes essentially no difference if the lens is open wide and the exposure is brief or if the same number of photons enter the camera in a longer exposure with the lens stopped down. If the exposure takes hours, "reciprocity failure" becomes important, if the film is not keep cold, but that has its problems also.