10 - Double-Slit Experiments

Summary

Introduction

In this chapter we show how the quantized detector network (QDN) formalism describes the double-slit (DS) experiment. This is arguably the simplest experiment that demonstrates quantum affects such as wave–particle duality and quantum interference. It continues to be the focus of much debate and experiment (Mardari, 2005), because theoretical modeling of what is going on reflects current understanding of quantum physics and hence physical reality.We will apply QDN to two variants: the original DS experiment and the monitored DS experiment, where an attempt is made to determine the imagined path of the particle.

The DS experiment is widely acknowledged by physicists to be of importance to the understanding of quantum mechanics (QM). So much so that in 2002, the single electron version, first performed by Merli, Missiroli, and Pozzi (Merli et al., 1976), was voted by readers of Physics World to be “the most beautiful experiment in physics” (Rosa, 2012).

The DS experiment can be discussed in terms of three stages, shown in Figure 10.1. By the end of the preparation stage, Σ₀, a monochromatic beam of light or particles has been prepared by a source P, such as a laser. The beam emerges from point O and then passes through an information void V₁ to the first stage, Σ₁, which consists of a wall or barrier W. This wall has two openings denoted A and B that allow parts of the beam to pass through into another information void V₂ and onto the second and final stage Σ₂, which consists of a detecting screen S.

The screen S is in general some material that can absorb and record particle impacts. In reality, any screen will consist of a finite number of signal detectors, such as photosensitive molecules, but the typical QM modeling is done as if there were a continuum of sites on the screen, such as C, that could register particles.