My pleasure!
Posted on 07/29/2025 10:51:44 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Scientists have long grappled with a fundamental question: what exactly is light?
Is it a wave, flowing like ripples across water, or is it made up of tiny particles, like miniature paintballs zipping through space?
This fundamental question was at the heart of the double-slit experiment, demonstrating light's dual nature.
Just recently, physicists at MIT conducted an experiment using incredible atomic precision.
Interestingly, it has definitively resolved a long-standing debate between quantum giants Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr about the elusive nature of light...
Einstein believed he could devise an experiment to observe light's particle path and wave interference simultaneously.
Bohr, leveraging the uncertainty principle, argued that any attempt to measure the photon's path would inevitably disturb it and destroy the interference pattern.
Over the decades, many versions of the double-slit experiment have confirmed Bohr's view.
But now, MIT physicists, led by Professor Wolfgang Ketterle, have performed the most "idealized" version yet, taking it to its quantum core.
Instead of physical slits, they used individual ultracold atoms as the "slits."
The team cooled over 10,000 atoms to near absolute zero and arranged them in a precise, crystal-like lattice using lasers. Each atom was effectively an isolated, identical slit.
They then shone a very weak light beam, ensuring that "each atom scattered at most one photon."
The scientists hypothesized that their setup -- using individual atoms precisely arranged -- could serve as a miniature double-slit experiment...
They discovered a clear relationship: the more precisely they determined a photon's path (confirming its particle-like behavior), the more the wave-like interference pattern faded.
(Excerpt) Read more at interestingengineering.com ...
There’s also the creeping realization that what up until now has been considered or described as the vast emptiness of space between heavenly bodies is actually teeming with stuff. Ergo, a medium for the transmission of light in the form of waves.
“Spoiler alert: Bohr is correct.”
Thank you, I was hoping someone would do that, I just wanted to know who won, I didn’t care about all the blah blah of it.
I think we are just scratching the surface of a much larger construct we have yet to comprehend.
Agreed.
Bohr proposed the Bohr atom, as a tiny solar system. The problem is, in classical electrodynamics, the orbiting electron would quickly radiate all its kinetic energy and crash into the nucleus. The Bohr atom, with the electron artificially constrained to choose one of a number of discrete states explained the spectrum of radiation emitted by hydrogen atoms, but imposed arbitrary constraints.
Recall, that in the early days of the 20th Century, it was not universally accepted that matter even consisted of atoms, indivisible (not quite!) grains of matter. Thompson's 1904 plum pudding model of the atom was actually an advance! The Bohr model only barely and incompletely explained the Balmer Series of spectral lines. The closer one looks, the more inconsistencies one found.
Yes, empty space is said to be teeming with virtual particles that give space a minimum level of energy.
What’s next? C is not constant across all medium types?? Blasphemy...
Google “double slit experiment”.
The duality arises from the fact that depending on how one observes light, or an electron, or an atom, it acts as if it is spatially diffuse or spatially concentrated!
Einstein won the Nobel Prize for his explanation of the photo-electric effect which indicated (did not prove, all we have in science is inference) that light consists of discrete particles, with a well defined energy given by the wavelength, and not a distributed wavefront, as in classical physics. However, when light is constrained to path, such as a double slit, and later detected, the photon will be detected at a single point. We know where is was when detected by seeing an image on a photographic plate, or in the bin of a CCD array. However the distribution of a large number of photons passing through the double slit is consistent with an interference pattern arising from the wave arriving at apertures of both slits simultaneously. When it passes through the apertures, the distribution of the population of many photons arrive at the sensor in a pattern or distribution that exhibits the interference pattern indicating it passed through both! Even when the rate of arrival of photons indicates that they traveled alone.
A photons exhibit an interference pattern consistent with having been spatially distributed at the aperture and concentrated at the detector.
Thank you; and, I get it.
I am merely protesting, along the lines of other discoveries:
- There are more than 3 phases of water?!
- Concrete bends?!
- My Pinto only gets 16.7 miles per gallon?!
Bkmk
Very enlightening. Now I can sleep at night.
Excellent!
I think that the deeper philosophical point is that all things material are willed into existence by a creative force, with us adding our small part.
I'm suspicious that they are not observing anything new under the Sun:
>>>The researchers observed that the wave interference pattern weakened any time an atom was nudged by a photon passing by. This confirmed that getting information about the photon's route automatically erased its wave-like properties.<<<
🤔... 🤣
As to your point, by going way back in time to an analysis of the First Light of Creation...
"Wave or particle?" [?גל או חלקיק]
= 288
Though he was certainly not the first to discuss it, the Kabbalah of the Arizal (Rabbi Itzhak Luria, 1534-1572) is primarily based on the concept of Shevirat haKelim, the “Shattering of the Vessels”. In the simplest of terms, when God created this universe He originally put together a totally perfect world, with ten wholesome “vessels” (the Ten Sefirot) holding it together.
They couldn’t contain the Divine Light, and shattered into pieces. There were 288 major pieces, alluded to by the words “and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters” (Genesis 1:2). The word “hovered”, merachepet (מרחפת), is an anagram of met rapach (מת רפ״ח), “‘death’ of the 288”. Since then, our spiritual purpose is to repair these pieces and place them back in their rightful spot. In this way, they are like a glass vessel that is shattered and then repaired and reformed into a perfectly new vessel through an infusion of spirit.
https://www.mayimachronim.com/why-break-a-glass-at-a-jewish-wedding/
For those like to start their day with a pun (WYSIWYG = the quantum way in a nutshell):
There's much commentary on the first verse of Genesis. One topic of discussion involves what God created first, the "et" [את]. It connects to the Jewish concept that God created the world with the letters of the alef-beit (א and ת are the first and last letters, alef and tav).
In the beginning, God created "et" --
Here's the translation with the Hebrew word order:
Genesis 1
1 In the beginning created God [את] the heaven and [את] the earth.בראשית ברא אלהים *את* השמים ו*את* הארץ
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Et is not translated into English because there's no equivalent. It's a grammatical marker for a DO.
In other words, it's a
"particle"
... the particle את (et) must be used prior to all definite direct objects as an accusative marker.
https://www.hebrewpod101.com/blog/2020/08/07/hebrew-word-order/
It's really easy to make waves with this kind of INTEL.
I take my pun time seriously even though I Bohr people to death. The Theory of Everything eludes because it alludes, paradoxically slipping right on by in plain sight because the quantum world ostensibly operates by a different set of rules than what is observed in the regular day-to-day reality of Newton and his falling apple.
(WYSIWYG)
🤷
Besides, as we all know, 40 years ago [on the 11th of Cheshvan, Jewish Mother's Day*] Einstein became the world's first time traveler (ultracold).
The one weird trick was to get 2 88 miles per hour.
🤓 😇
*You see how the description points to the birth of Benjamin? Yet it was Benoni who had departed along with the soul of his mother. As far as they were concerned, the trip was instantaneous..
My pleasure!
I grok that. 😎
Einstein and Bohr each won the Nobel in Physics, unshared — in consecutive years, and in that order. 😊
Still in flux one observes. Or not.
No. Poker. { snicker }
“Ergo, a medium for the transmission of light in the form of waves.”
yes, it was called “ether” back in the day and that theory has long since been discarded:
The theory of the ether as a medium for light transmission was a prominent hypothesis in physics from the 17th to the early 20th century, aimed at explaining how light, as a wave, could propagate through space. Below is a concise overview of the theory, its historical context, key developments, and eventual decline, tailored to your query.
What Was the Ether Theory?
The ether (or aether) was proposed as an invisible, all-pervading medium that filled the universe, serving as the medium through which light waves traveled. Since light was understood to be a wave by the 19th century (thanks to experiments like Young’s double-slit experiment), scientists assumed it required a physical medium to propagate, similar to how sound waves travel through air or water. The ether was hypothesized to be a weightless, frictionless, and undetectable substance that permeated all space, including vacuums.
Historical Context and Development
Early Concepts (17th–18th Century): The idea of an ether-like medium dates back to thinkers like René Descartes, who proposed a “luminiferous” (light-bearing) ether to explain light propagation. Isaac Newton also considered an ether in his optical theories but leaned toward a corpuscular (particle) model of light.
19th Century Wave Optics: The wave theory of light, solidified by Thomas Young and Augustin Fresnel, necessitated a medium. Fresnel’s work on light diffraction and polarization suggested that light waves were transverse (oscillating perpendicular to their direction of travel), which implied the ether had to be a solid-like medium with peculiar properties to support such waves.
Properties of the Ether: The ether was imagined to have contradictory properties: it had to be extremely rigid to support the high speed of light (approximately 300,000 km/s), yet so tenuous that it offered no resistance to planets or other objects moving through it. It was also assumed to be stationary relative to absolute space, serving as a universal reference frame.
Key Experiments and Challenges
The ether theory faced scrutiny as experiments sought to detect it or confirm its properties:
Michelson-Morley Experiment (1887): Albert Michelson and Edward Morley conducted a famous experiment to detect the Earth’s motion through the ether by measuring the speed of light in different directions. They expected variations due to the Earth’s movement through the stationary ether (the “ether wind”). However, the experiment found no significant difference, producing a “null result” that challenged the ether’s existence.
Ether Drag Hypotheses: To explain the null result, scientists like George Stokes and Hendrik Lorentz proposed that the ether might be “dragged” by massive objects like Earth, canceling the expected effect. These ideas, however, introduced further complexities and inconsistencies.
Lorentz’s Ether Model: Lorentz developed a mathematical framework to preserve the ether concept, introducing the Lorentz transformation to explain how moving observers might perceive light consistently. This laid groundwork for later developments but still relied on an undetectable ether.
Decline of the Ether Theory
The ether theory was gradually abandoned due to several factors:
Einstein’s Special Relativity (1905): Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity eliminated the need for an ether by proposing that the speed of light is constant for all observers, regardless of their motion or the medium. Light did not require a medium to propagate, as its behavior was governed by the fundamental structure of spacetime.
Simpler Explanations: Relativity provided a simpler and more consistent explanation for electromagnetic phenomena without invoking an undetectable medium. The ether became an unnecessary hypothesis under Occam’s razor.
Experimental Evidence: Subsequent experiments, like those confirming time dilation and length contraction predicted by relativity, further supported Einstein’s framework over ether-based models.
Legacy and Modern Perspective
While the luminiferous ether is no longer accepted, the concept played a crucial role in the development of physics. It drove experimental and theoretical advances, including the precise measurements of the speed of light and the mathematical foundations of relativity. The term “ether” occasionally appears in modern contexts (e.g., in cosmology or quantum field theory discussions), but it refers to entirely different concepts, not the classical luminiferous ether.
Why It Matters
The ether theory is a fascinating case study in the history of science, illustrating how scientific models evolve with new evidence. It highlights the importance of empirical testing and the willingness to abandon long-held assumptions when simpler, more effective theories emerge.
If you’d like me to dive deeper into specific aspects (e.g., the mathematics of the Michelson-Morley experiment, Lorentz’s transformations, or the philosophical implications), let me know! Alternatively, I can search for recent discussions on X or the web to see if there’s any modern reinterpretation of the ether concept, though such ideas are typically speculative and not mainstream.
A particle follows a single path as it goes from point A to point B. A wave follows every possible path, its energy spreading out and dissipating as it goes. A quantum particle acts as a wave, following every possible path, but its energy cannot be divided into smaller amounts. It goes everywhere, but is only found in a single location. That’s the contradiction.
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