The discussion revolves around the wave-particle duality of photons, exploring how different observers perceive photons as either waves or particles. Participants examine the implications of these observations on the nature of reality and the conditions under which these states can be observed. The conversation touches on theoretical, experimental, and conceptual aspects of quantum mechanics.
Participants express differing views on the nature of photons and the implications of their observations. While some assert that photons are fundamentally particles, others emphasize the wave-like behavior observed under certain conditions. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple competing perspectives on the topic.
There are limitations in the discussion regarding the definitions of wave and particle states, the conditions under which these states can be observed, and the assumptions about measurement effects. The relationship between single photons and interference patterns is also a point of contention.
beatlemaniacj said:If a photon can be observed as a wave or a particle, and that observation decides whether it is in fact a wave or a particle, what happens when to observers observe the same particle differently? Is it both? Is reality different for each observer?
beatlemaniacj said:If a photon can be observed as a wave or a particle, and that observation decides whether it is in fact a wave or a particle, what happens when to observers observe the same particle differently? Is it both? Is reality different for each observer?
tom.stoer said:The smallest portion you can observe is a single photon. And a single photon is always observed as a particle! If you observe a wave-like phenomenon (e.g. an interference pattern) this is always created by interference of many photons (you can have a single photon interfering with itself, but it never creates an interference pattern, it always creates a single, point-like spot or something like that).
That's correct, but you are not able to check this experimentatlly by just using one single photon; you always need multiple photons, either in a beam or single photons in many identical experiments. So in a sense we claim theoretically that a photon can (and does) interfer with itself, but we know that we can never check this directly. The best we can do is to look at the interference pattern created by many individual photons where we make sure that for a certain time interval T=L/c only one single photon does exist inside the experimental setup (with a typical size L).bhobba said:True - a single photon can not create an interference pattern but it will give away that it is interfering with itself by never being detected at certain points.