Quantum physics is less complicated than we thought b4in.org/fCuk Two phenomena, ‘wave-particle duality’ and the ‘uncertainty principle’, have confounded particle physicists for years, but now a new research paper published in the journal Nature Communications has found that these two phenomena are actually the same thing. “The connection between uncertainty and wave-particle duality comes out very naturally when you consider them as questions about what information you can gain about a system. Our result highlights the power of thinking about physics from the perspective of information,” said study author Stephanie Wehner, an associate professor of quantum physics the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Wave-particle duality is the idea that a quantum particle can act like a wave, but the wave-like action vanishes if researchers attempt to view the object. For example, in a double-slit experiment, single particles are shot one at a time at a screen with two thin slits. The particles ultimately stack up in a striped pattern – which is not how particles should act, but more like how waves would act. In a bizarre twist, this wave pattern vanishes if observers check to see if it is happening. More b4in.org/fCuk
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 07:35:10 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015