Light is made of particles AND waves, not OR

What's Next in Science | Rowan University ^ | 3/12/07

[AprilfromTexas]

bump to read later

[saganite]

Enlightening. Thanks.

[FairOpinion]

ping

[saganite]

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[fat city]

I have Schrodinger's Toilet at my house- I flush it, and if I walk away it keeps running. If I stand and watch it- it stops.

I know it's a combination of waves and particles. Very large particles.

[Vroomfondel]

I have Schrodinger's Toilet at my house- I flush it, and if I walk away it keeps running. If I stand and watch it- it stops.

I used to have a Heisenberg uncertainty shower. You could control the pressure or the temperature, but not both.

[I see my hands]

That was surprisingly light reading.

[jwh_Denver]

80 years my ass. I've known this for 25 years and how could I have known it unless I read it somewhere?

[indthkr]

cool physics bump for later........

[brityank]

“Afshar’s experiment consists of the clever idea of putting small absorbing wires at the exact position of the dark interference fringes, where you expect no light,” Knoesel said. “He then observed that the wires do not change the total light intensity, so there are really dark fringes at the position of the wires. That proves that light also behaves as a wave in the same experiment in which it behaves as a particle.”

I don't get it. I stand in the sun, and my body casts a shadow, and my hand's shadow disappears when I move it into my trunk shadow. Are these learned Solons saying that my hand shadow can still be discerned in some way?

[CarrotAndStick]

The dark area of an interference fringe is not a "shadow", to begin with. That's where waves of light cancel off each other. Or something to that effect.

[Bittersweetmd]

ping

[JudgemAll]

I believe they mean that when light acts as a particle, it should hit the shadow area, but it does not and indvidualy goes through either hole. Thus the photon chooses one hole or the other for some strange reason, and instead of light acting as a wave interference in the shadow area, it's more of a logical like switching that occurs, according to a certain clock.

This could have fantastic repercution in nano-computer development and "artificial intelligence" as it is more akin to the transistor effect. It also would mean there is no uncertainty...

[Draco]

I've known this for 25 years and how could I have known it unless I read it somewhere? This was in high school physics. The particles (or mass portion of the "duality") were called photons. Our teacher had us calculate the force these photons exerted on our bodies as we stood in the sun. The "force" was infintesimally small, but it still existed. I am sure my HS understanding of electromagnetism and related subjects is rudimentary -- but I like you recall this from some time ago.

[Quix]

Sounds like your large toilet waves are related to your large particles.

Surf's up!

[gr8eman]

Yeah...gee whiz...wow...damn the Photon torpedoes, full speed ahead!

[Lurker]

So it's a desert topping and a floor wax?

L

[The_Media_never_lie]

Thanks for illuminating this subject.

[camle]

BFL