Let There Be Light! Photo Shows Light As Wave And Particle For First Time

According to quantum mechanics light acts as both a particle and a wave, but now we can finally see what that looks like.

Quantum mechanics is an incredibly complex field for a simple reason:

So much of what it studies can be two different things at the exact

same time. Light

is a great example since it behaves like both a particle and a wave,

but only appears in one state during experiments. Mathematically

speaking, we have to treat light as both ways for the universe to make

sense but actually confirming it visually has been impossible. Or at

least that was the case until scientists from Switzerland’s École

polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne developed their own unique

photography method.

The image was created by shooting a pulse of laser light at a

metallic nanowire to make its charged particles vibrate. Next the

scientists fired a stream of electrons past the wire holding the trapped

light. When the two collided, it created an energy exchange that could

be photographed from the electron microscope.

So what does this mean when looking at the photograph? When the

photons and electrons collide, they either slow down or speed up, which

creates a visualization of a light wave. At the same time the speed

change appears as a quanta – packets of energy – transferred between the

electrons and photons as particles. In other words, it’s the first case

of observing light particles and waves simultaneously.

“This experiment demonstrates that, for the first time ever, we can

film quantum mechanics – and its paradoxical nature – directly,”

research leader Fabrizio Carbone explained. This has enormous

implications not only for quantum research, but also quantum-based

technologies still in development. “Being able to image and control

quantum phenomena at the nanometer scale like this opens up a new route

towards quantum computing,” he continued.

The experiment results were posted in today’s Nature Communications,

which will help other scientists build on this research with further

studies. After all, it’s not like we’ve unlocked all of light’s secrets

yet – we can barely even tell what color a dress is sometimes.

Source Article from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AscensionEarth2012/~3/S2NCAtjo168/let-there-be-light-photo-shows-light-as.html

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Let There Be Light! Photo Shows Light As Wave And Particle For First Time