Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Wave-particle duality fans: Your ship has come in!

  1. #1
    Master OptiBoarder rinselberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Sunnyvale, CA 94086
    Occupation
    Other Eyecare-Related Field
    Posts
    2,301

    Wave-particle duality fans: Your ship has come in!

    I just posted (at some length) about a remarkable experiment, just reported from France, that has taken the classic 19th century double slit experiment and more recent wave-particle experiments to a new level of perfection - and meaning.

    Find it at ...
    http://www.optiboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22340

    Yours truly.
    Last edited by rinselberg; 03-09-2007 at 05:58 PM.

  2. #2
    ATO Member HarryChiling's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Nowhereville
    Occupation
    Other Eyecare-Related Field
    Posts
    7,765
    "Thought" provoking! :D
    1st* HTML5 Tracer Software
    1st Mac Compatible Tracer Software
    1st Linux Compatible Tracer Software

    *Dave at OptiVision has a web based tracer integration package that's awesome.

  3. #3
    Underemployed Genius Jacqui's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Frostbite Falls, Mn.
    Occupation
    Optical Wholesale Lab (other positions)
    Posts
    7,417
    Where do you come up with this stuff?? and at such an ungodly hour of the morning.

  4. #4
    Master OptiBoarder rinselberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Sunnyvale, CA 94086
    Occupation
    Other Eyecare-Related Field
    Posts
    2,301
    Quote Originally Posted by Jacqui View Post
    Where do you come up with this stuff?? and at such an ungodly hour of the morning.
    Bad habits from college - "all nighters" right before the exam or when the project was due ... I drink lots of coffee to rev up for these gi-normous sized posts. (And beer afterwards to calm down.)

    I just added some additional figures with captions - to clarify a few points.

    And about halfway down:
    I found a perfect five minute YouTube video with "Dr. Quantum" that illustrates all this using a very simple animation with voiceover. The video illustrates an experiment with electrons - but if every time you hear "electron", you think "photon" - every facet of the video carries over 100 percent from electrons to photons.
    I have DSL and the video came thru OK. Dial-up modem? I don't know. Maybe you could start the video as a download to your computer ("download linked file" is the way it says it on a Mac) and after it finishes downloading - which could take a while - then play it back from your hard disk.
    Last edited by rinselberg; 03-10-2007 at 10:20 AM.

  5. #5
    Master OptiBoarder Darryl Meister's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2000
    Location
    Kansas City, Kansas, United States
    Occupation
    Lens Manufacturer
    Posts
    3,700
    It sounds like a flawed experiment to me. How can a single photon, which by definition is the smallest quantity of light in quantum mechanics, activate two different detectors through a beam splitter? I'm reminded of that equally flawed claim made a few years ago that some scientists had managed to accelerate signals faster than 300,000 kms through cesium vapor...
    Darryl J. Meister, ABOM

  6. #6
    Master OptiBoarder rinselberg's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Sunnyvale, CA 94086
    Occupation
    Other Eyecare-Related Field
    Posts
    2,301
    Quote Originally Posted by Darryl Meister View Post
    It sounds like a flawed experiment to me. How can a single photon, which by definition is the smallest quantity of light in quantum mechanics, activate two different detectors through a beam splitter? I'm reminded of that equally flawed claim made a few years ago that some scientists had managed to accelerate signals faster than 300,000 kms through cesium vapor ...
    Thanks for your interest, DM: I'm pleased to be able to respond to a comment about my report.

    I think that what assures the integrity of the experiment is statistics.

    There are imperfections throughout the chain of equipment that comprises the experiment: Imperfections that are manifest as random noise. False counts from the photo detectors, for example. This is carefully delineated in the complete (three page) journal article which is available freely online in PDF format via Experimental Realization of Wheeler's Delayed-Choice Gedanken Experiment from Science; February 17 2007 ... thanks to someone associated with the University of Glasgow.

    The conclusions are drawn statistically from an experimental database that includes thousands of experiment cycles - enough to average out the random noise effects and allow statistical confidence factors to be provided in conjunction with the findings.

    I don't think that their numerical results could be attributed to anything except a confirmation of the expectations that led them to this experimental framework. In other words, they are confident, based on their statistics, that they have the findings that were anticipated, and that their results confirm that the experimental setup works in the exact way that was projected throughout its design.

    Feel free to address your concerns via email to Jean-Francois Roch at the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan using roch@physique.ens-cachan.fr ... :D
    :cheers:
    Last edited by rinselberg; 03-10-2007 at 11:48 AM.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Wave~Front
    By chip anderson in forum General Optics and Eyecare Discussion Forum
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 10-10-2006, 10:18 AM
  2. Wave Front Technology
    By Jacqui in forum General Optics and Eyecare Discussion Forum
    Replies: 28
    Last Post: 03-18-2006, 12:09 AM
  3. WTC Steel Remains To Make Navy Ship
    By Cindy Hamlin in forum Just Conversation
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 12-29-2002, 05:26 PM
  4. Ocean wave sunglasses
    By Eugene Carden in forum Optical Marketplace
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-20-2002, 09:54 AM
  5. OptiWear begins to ship this week...
    By Pete Hanlin in forum General Optics and Eyecare Discussion Forum
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 08-11-2001, 11:07 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •