OrionWorks wrote:
>> From: Michel Jullian
>>
>> Indeed the double slit experiment with only one single photon or
>> electron traversing the experiment at a time is an awesome proof
>> of the shortcomings of our common sense (mine in any case)! Can
>> anyone _really_ make sense of why they form interference
>> patterns? I mean, the QM equations will yield those patterns all
>> right, but does QM itself make common sense?
>>
>> Michel
>
> The only logical explanation my brain can make out of the paradoxical
double
> slit experiment is the notion that what we perceive, and more importantly
> MEASURE, as "particles" are perhaps not really ISOLATED pinpoints
> of –matter- after all.
>
> The only rational explanation I can comprehend is that what we define as
> ISOLATED pin-points of "matter" are most likely waves of EM energy
that have
> coalesced or configured themselves into patterns that our measuring
devices,
> which reside in the macro world, interpret as "physical" particles. Of
> course, WE are the ones doing all the interpreting. It's as if there
is an
> almost desperate-like human tendency to fit as much bizzare QM
behavior into
> the more framiliar rules of the macro world, cuz that's the only
reality our
> brains can make any sense out of. And indeed, these highly
concentrated EM
> patterns may occasionally seem to take on the characteristics of "matter"
> which we human beings find so comforting. But to define these QM patterns
> (i.e. photons) as ISOLATED pin points of "matter" does not
necessarily mean
> it's the most accurate interpretation of what is really going on
under the
> hood.
>
> Oh dear, caught in the act of pontificating, once again.
>
> >From a strictly philosophical non-scientific POV it all seems to
come down
> to MAYA, the illusion of reality that we all seem to be so entranced
with.
> The sand box, after all, with all of its inherent granularity can
> occasionally be a fun place in which to build temporary sand castles in.
>
> Regards,
> Steven Vincent Johnson
> www.OrionWorks.com
What's fascinating about double slit is its wave and particle duality.
The bar patterns demonstrate the electrons wave behavior, like a
wave-train or pulse. On the other hand there's just one collision on the
screen per electron. If the electron were merely a wave then it would
crash against the screen like an oceans wave. That's probably why it's
referred to as the collapse of the wave function in QM.
Regards,
Paul Lowrance
