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6
votes
4answers
344 views

$\lambda=\frac{2h}{p}$?

I am studying quantum physics and there is something I don't understand: I know that for any particle $E=hf$ (Einstein relation) and $v=\lambda f$ ($v$ is the speed of the particle). I also know that ...
4
votes
4answers
425 views

What does a de Broglie wave look like?

What does a de Broglie wave look like? Are de Broglie waves transverse or longitudinal? Can they be polarized? What about the de Broglie wave of a ground state neutral spin-zero Helium 4 atom? ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views

Why is the speed-of-light “the upper limit” rather than the speed of “particle type X”?

Basically, I can't stop wondering why light (the photon) is so special, compared to all the other particles known (and unknown) to modern day physics. Could it be that there exists an upper limit on ...
3
votes
4answers
174 views

slit-screen and wave-particle duality

In a double-slit experiment, interference patterns are shown when lights pass through slits and illuminate the screen. So, the question is if one shoots a single photon, does the screen show ...
0
votes
4answers
242 views

Are there theories that explain wave-particle duality?

I'm confused by the famous wave-particle duality mystery: When a particle is left unobserved, it acts like a wave and can explore all classically available particle trajectories simultaneously. By ...
15
votes
7answers
1k views

Is the wave-particle duality a real duality?

I often hear about the wave-particle duality, and how particles exhibit properties of both particles and waves. I most recently heard this in this video. However, I wonder; is this actually a duality? ...
4
votes
5answers
439 views

What do we actually mean when we say that matter is a wave?

What do we actually mean when we say that matter is a wave? What does the wavelength of this matter wave indicate? The idea of a particle behaving like a wave is kinda incomprehensible to me. ...
3
votes
4answers
321 views

What does it mean (how is it visualized) for a particle to act as a wave?

I have no background in physics. This isn't for homework, just for interest. In quantum physics, it's described that a particle can act as both a particle and a wave. Quoted from HowStuffWorks ...
1
vote
2answers
188 views

What is light, and how can it travel in a vacuum forever in all directions at once without a medium?

I know there are many questions that are similar (maybe identical?). I am not a physicist nor a student - I am just interested in physics and have been watching many physics channels on youtube ...
1
vote
3answers
202 views

How do we know particles exist? Aren't they just waves?

In the book "A Briefer History of Time" Stephen Hawking wrote: The unpredictable, random element comes in only when we try to interpret the wave in terms of the positions and velocities of ...
2
votes
4answers
832 views

Can an electron be in two places at the same time?

So I've been reading a bit and watching some videos about the double slit experiment, and therefore the wave particle duality; I've also read this "implies" that a particle can be in two places at the ...
1
vote
4answers
157 views

wave-particle duality

I have been trying to understand "wave-particle duality" and other cases related to it. I am currently a college level student. I have few question which I am not getting answers clearly. In double ...