Photodetector in single-slit experiment

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    Experiment Photodetector
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of photons and their detection in the context of a single-slit experiment. Participants explore questions related to the characteristics of photons, the functioning of photodetectors, and the implications of photon size and energy on detection.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions how a photodetector can display a single 'white dot blip' without requiring a physical size for the photon.
  • Another participant suggests that if photons had a definite size, smaller detectors could detect them, but no such demonstration exists.
  • It is proposed that blips from detectors do not have an area but may have a "loudness" related to the energy of the photon.
  • Participants discuss whether a photodetector can measure properties of a photon beyond its energy, such as the timing of detection.
  • There is a question about whether a photon with a wavelength larger than the slit can still be detected by a photodetector, with a tentative agreement that it seems possible.
  • One participant expresses skepticism about the development of smaller detectors, suggesting that the evidence of smaller CCD arrays would be dismissed by others due to quantum effects.
  • Another participant raises the idea that if two detectors blip simultaneously, it could imply the arrival of two photons, questioning the relationship between the photon and the detector's blip.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the implications of photon size and detection, with no consensus reached on the nature of photons or the functionality of photodetectors in relation to photon characteristics.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the complexity of the topic, with references to quantum effects and the limitations of current detection technology. The discussion includes assumptions about the nature of photons and the capabilities of detectors that remain unresolved.

Chaos' lil bro Order
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I have a lay question that needs answering please.

If a photodetector can display a single 'white dot blip' where a single photon has struck it, how can this be explained without requiring a physical size of the incident photon?

Side Questions

1) Does a photon of higher energy leave a smaller 'blip' than a lower energy photon would?

2) Does a photodetector measure any properties of an incident photon other than its energy?

3) Can a photon with a wavelength greater in size than the slit its passing through be detected by a photodetector?

4) Will ZapperZ answer this post, chew me up, make me feel bad and enjoy bashing me for the nth time? (please don't answer this one :smile: )


Anyhoo, answers appreciated, ty.
 
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Your detector either makes a blip, or doesn't. You can replace your detector with a surface divided into smaller detectors, but still each either blips or does not. If the photon had a definite size then you could make really small detectors such that if one detects the photon, an adjacent one detects it too. Nobody has demonstrated any such thing.

1 - blips don't have an area, but they may have.. a "loudness" related to the energy.
2 - yes, eg. can measure *when* the photon was inside the detector.
3 - seems so.
 
I can see where this thread is going,... wave or particle...
 
cesiumfrog said:
If the photon had a definite size then you could make really small detectors such that if one detects the photon, an adjacent one detects it too. Nobody has demonstrated any such thing.
.

Interesting idea frog. Is this being developed at present?
 
Chaos' lil bro Order said:
Is this being developed at present?
I'm guessing no, because anyone who has studied enough physics needs no further convincing.

Besides, any time I point to the evidence of progressively smaller CCD arrays, you would only say that the photon is smaller than the elements in the latest arrays. And someone else would come along and insist the whole test is invalid because another quantum effect comes into play..
 
cesiumfrog said:
Your detector either makes a blip, or doesn't. You can replace your detector with a surface divided into smaller detectors, but still each either blips or does not. If the photon had a definite size then you could make really small detectors such that if one detects the photon, an adjacent one detects it too. Nobody has demonstrated any such thing.
But, if two detectors blips, wouldn't this be interpreted as "two photons have arrived"?
Wouldn't this mean the "the photon" is nothing else than "the blip of the detector"?
 

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