10/19/2016 DoubleslitexperimentWikipedia

Doubleslitexperiment
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Themoderndoubleslitexperimentisademonstrationthatlightand
mattercandisplaycharacteristicsofbothclassicallydefinedwavesand
particlesmoreover,itdisplaysthefundamentallyprobabilisticnatureof
quantummechanicalphenomena.Asimplerformofthedoubleslit
experimentwasperformedoriginallybyThomasYoungin1801(well
beforequantummechanics).Hebelieveditdemonstratedthatthewave
theoryoflightwascorrectandhisexperimentissometimesreferredto Photonsorparticlesofmatter(likean
asYoung'sexperiment[1]orYoung'sslits.Theexperimentbelongstoa electron)produceawavepattern
generalclassof"doublepath"experiments,inwhichawaveissplitinto whentwoslitsareused
twoseparatewavesthatlatercombineintoasinglewave.Changesin
thepathlengthsofbothwavesresultinaphaseshift,creatingan
interferencepattern.AnotherversionistheMachZehnderinterferometer,whichsplitsthebeamwithamirror.

Inthebasicversionofthisexperiment,acoherentlightsource,suchasalaserbeam,illuminatesaplatepierced
bytwoparallelslits,andthelightpassingthroughtheslitsisobservedonascreenbehindtheplate.[2][3]The
wavenatureoflightcausesthelightwavespassingthroughthetwoslitstointerfere,producingbrightanddark
bandsonthescreenaresultthatwouldnotbeexpectediflightconsistedofclassicalparticles.[2][4]However,
thelightisalwaysfoundtobeabsorbedatthescreenatdiscretepoints,asindividualparticles(notwaves),the
interferencepatternappearingviathevaryingdensityoftheseparticlehitsonthescreen.[5]Furthermore,
versionsoftheexperimentthatincludedetectorsattheslitsfindthateachdetectedphotonpassesthroughone
slit(aswouldaclassicalparticle),andnotthroughbothslits(aswouldawave).[6][7][8][9][10]Theseresults
demonstratetheprincipleofwaveparticleduality.[11][12]

Otheratomicscaleentitiessuchaselectronsarefoundtoexhibitthesamebehaviorwhenfiredtowardsa
doubleslit.[3]Additionally,thedetectionofindividualdiscreteimpactsisobservedtobeinherently
probabilistic,whichisinexplicableusingclassicalmechanics.[3]

Theexperimentcanbedonewithentitiesmuchlargerthanelectronsandphotons,althoughitbecomesmore
difficultassizeincreases.Thelargestentitiesforwhichthedoubleslitexperimenthasbeenperformedwere
moleculesthateachcomprised810atoms(whosetotalmasswasover10,000atomicmassunits).[13][14]

Contents
1 Overview
2 Variationsoftheexperiment
2.1 Interferenceofindividualparticles
2.2 "Whichway"experimentsandtheprincipleofcomplementarity
2.3 Delayedchoiceandquantumeraservariations
2.4 Weakmeasurement
2.5 Othervariations
2.5.1 Hydrodynamicpilotwaveanalogs
3 Classicalwaveopticsformulation
4 Interpretationsoftheexperiment
4.1 Copenhageninterpretation
4.2 Pathintegralformulation
4.3 Relationalinterpretation
4.4 Manyworldsinterpretation
5 Seealso
6 References
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6 References
6.1 Furtherreading
7 Externallinks
7.1 Interactiveanimations
7.2 Singleparticleexperiments
7.3 Hydrodynamicanalog
7.4 Computersimulations

Overview
Iflightconsistedstrictlyofordinaryorclassical
particles,andtheseparticleswerefiredinastraight
linethroughaslitandallowedtostrikeascreenon
theotherside,wewouldexpecttoseeapattern
correspondingtothesizeandshapeoftheslit.
However,whenthis"singleslitexperiment"is
actuallyperformed,thepatternonthescreenisa
diffractionpatterninwhichthelightisspreadout.
Thesmallertheslit,thegreatertheangleofspread.
Thetopportionoftheimageshowsthecentral
portionofthepatternformedwhenaredlaser
illuminatesaslitand,ifonelookscarefully,two
faintsidebands.Morebandscanbeseenwitha
morehighlyrefinedapparatus.Diffractionexplains
thepatternasbeingtheresultoftheinterferenceof
lightwavesfromtheslit. Samedoubleslitassembly(0.7mmbetweenslits)intop
image,oneslitisclosed.Inthesingleslitimage,a
Ifoneilluminatestwoparallelslitswithamore diffractionpattern(thefaintspotsoneithersideofthemain
intenseredlaser,thelightfromthetwoslitsagain band)formsduetothenonzerowidthoftheslit.A
interferes.Heretheinterferenceisamore diffractionpatternisalsoseeninthedoubleslitimage,but
pronouncedpatternwithaseriesoflightanddark attwicetheintensityandwiththeadditionofmanysmaller
bands.Thewidthofthebandsisapropertyofthe interferencefringes.
frequencyoftheilluminatinglight.[15](Seethe
bottomphotographtotheright.)WhenThomasYoung
(17731829)firstdemonstratedthisphenomenon,it
indicatedthatlightconsistsofwaves,asthedistribution
ofbrightnesscanbeexplainedbythealternatelyadditive
andsubtractiveinterferenceofwavefronts.[3]Young's
experiment,performedintheearly1800s,playedavital
partintheacceptanceofthewavetheoryoflight,
vanquishingthecorpusculartheoryoflightproposedby
IsaacNewton,whichhadbeentheacceptedmodelof
lightpropagationinthe17thand18thcenturies.
However,thelaterdiscoveryofthephotoelectriceffect
demonstratedthatunderdifferentcircumstances,light
canbehaveasifitiscomposedofdiscreteparticles. Simulationofaparticlewavefunction:doubleslit
Theseseeminglycontradictorydiscoveriesmadeit
experiment.Thewhiteblurrepresentstheparticle.The
necessarytogobeyondclassicalphysicsandtakethe whiterisapixel,thebiggerisprobabilityoffindinga
quantumnatureoflightintoaccount. particleinthatplaceifmeasured
Thedoubleslitexperiment(anditsvariations)has
becomeaclassicthoughtexperiment,foritsclarityinexpressingthecentralpuzzlesofquantummechanics.
Becauseitdemonstratesthefundamentallimitationoftheabilityoftheobservertopredictexperimentalresults,

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RichardFeynmancalledit"aphenomenonwhichisimpossible[]toexplaininanyclassicalway,andwhich
hasinittheheartofquantummechanics.Inreality,itcontainstheonlymystery[ofquantummechanics]."[3]
Feynmanwasfondofsayingthatallofquantummechanicscanbegleanedfromcarefullythinkingthroughthe
implicationsofthissingleexperiment.[16]RichardFeynmanalsoproposed(asathoughtexperiment)thatif
detectorswereplacedbeforeeachslit,theinterferencepatternwoulddisappear.[17]

TheEnglertGreenbergerdualityrelationprovidesadetailedtreatmentofthemathematicsofdoubleslit
interferenceinthecontextofquantummechanics.

AlowintensitydoubleslitexperimentwasfirstperformedbyG.I.Taylorin1909,[18]byreducingthelevelof
incidentlightuntilphotonemission/absorptioneventsweremostlynonoverlapping.Adoubleslitexperiment
wasnotperformedwithanythingotherthanlightuntil1961,whenClausJnssonoftheUniversityofTbingen
performeditwithelectrons.[19][20]In1974,theItalianphysicistsPierGiorgioMerli,GianFrancoMissiroli,and
GiulioPozzirepeatedtheexperimentusingsingleelectrons,showingthateachelectroninterfereswithitselfas
predictedbyquantumtheory.[21][22]In2002,thesingleelectronversionoftheexperimentwasvoted"themost
beautifulexperiment"byreadersofPhysicsWorld.[23]

Variationsoftheexperiment
Interferenceofindividualparticles

Animportantversionofthisexperimentinvolvessingleparticles(orwavesforconsistency,theyarecalled
particleshere).Sendingparticlesthroughadoubleslitapparatusoneatatimeresultsinsingleparticles
appearingonthescreen,asexpected.Remarkably,however,aninterferencepatternemergeswhenthese
particlesareallowedtobuilduponebyone(seetheimagetotheright).Thisdemonstratesthewaveparticle
duality,whichstatesthatallmatterexhibitsbothwaveandparticleproperties:theparticleismeasuredasa
singlepulseatasingleposition,whilethewavedescribestheprobabilityofabsorbingtheparticleataspecific
placeofthedetector.[24]Thisphenomenonhasbeenshowntooccurwithphotons,electrons,atomsandeven
somemolecules,includingbuckyballs.[25][26][27][28][29]Soexperimentswithelectronsaddconfirmatory
evidencetotheviewthatelectrons,protons,neutrons,andevenlargerentitiesthatareordinarilycalledparticles
neverthelesshavetheirownwavenatureandeventheirownspecificfrequencies.

Theprobabilityofdetectionisthesquareoftheamplitudeofthewaveandcanbecalculatedwithclassical
waves(seebelow).Theparticlesdonotarriveatthescreeninapredictableorder,soknowingwhereallthe
previousparticlesappearedonthescreenandinwhatordertellsnothingaboutwhereafutureparticlewillbe
detected.[30]Ifthereisacancellationofwavesatsomepoint,thatdoesnotmeanthataparticledisappearsit
willappearsomewhereelse.Eversincetheoriginationofquantummechanics,sometheoristshavesearchedfor
waystoincorporateadditionaldeterminantsor"hiddenvariables"that,weretheytobecomeknown,would
accountforthelocationofeachindividualimpactwiththetarget.[31]

Morecomplicatedsystemsthatinvolvetwoormoreparticlesinsuperpositionarenotamenabletotheabove
explanation.[32]

"Whichway"experimentsandtheprincipleofcomplementarity

Awellknownthoughtexperimentpredictsthatifparticledetectorsarepositionedattheslits,showingthrough
whichslitaphotongoes,theinterferencepatternwilldisappear.[3]Thiswhichwayexperimentillustratesthe
complementarityprinciplethatphotonscanbehaveaseitherparticlesorwaves,butcannotbeobservedasboth
atthesametime.[33][34][35]Despitetheimportanceofthisgedankeninthehistoryofquantummechanics(for
example,seethediscussiononEinstein'sversionofthisexperiment),technicallyfeasiblerealizationsofthis
experimentwerenotproposeduntilthe1970s.[36](Naiveimplementationsofthetextbookgedankenarenot

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possiblebecausephotonscannotbedetectedwithoutabsorbingthe
photon.)Currently,multipleexperimentshavebeenperformedillustrating
variousaspectsofcomplementarity.[37]

Anexperimentperformedin1987[38][39]producedresultsthat
demonstratedthatinformationcouldbeobtainedregardingwhichpatha
particlehadtakenwithoutdestroyingtheinterferencealtogether.This
showedtheeffectofmeasurementsthatdisturbedtheparticlesintransitto
alesserdegreeandtherebyinfluencedtheinterferencepatternonlytoa
comparableextent.Inotherwords,ifonedoesnotinsistthatthemethod
usedtodeterminewhichsliteachphotonpassesthroughbecompletely
reliable,onecanstilldetecta(degraded)interferencepattern.[40]

Delayedchoiceandquantumeraservariations

Wheeler'sdelayedchoiceexperimentsdemonstratethatextracting"which
path"informationafteraparticlepassesthroughtheslitscanseemto
retroactivelyalteritspreviousbehaviorattheslits.

Quantumeraserexperimentsdemonstratethatwavebehaviorcanbe
restoredbyerasingorotherwisemakingpermanentlyunavailablethe
"whichpath"information.

Asimpledoitathomedemonstrationofthequantumeraserphenomenon
wasgiveninanarticleinScientificAmerican.[41]Ifonesetspolarizers
beforeeachslitwiththeiraxesorthogonaltoeachother,theinterference
patternwillbeeliminated.Thepolarizerscanbeconsideredasintroducing
whichpathinformationtoeachbeam.Introducingathirdpolarizerinfront
ofthedetectorwithanaxisof45relativetotheotherpolarizers"erases"
thisinformation,allowingtheinterferencepatterntoreappear.Thiscan
alsobeaccountedforbyconsideringthelighttobeaclassicalwave,[41]:91
Electronbuildupovertime
andalsowhenusingcircularpolarizersandsinglephotons.[42]:6
Implementationsofthepolarizersusingentangledphotonpairshaveno
classicalexplanation.[42]

Weakmeasurement

Inahighlypublicizedexperimentin2012,researchersclaimedtohaveidentifiedthepatheachparticlehad
takenwithoutanyadverseeffectsatallontheinterferencepatterngeneratedbytheparticles.[43]Inordertodo
this,theyusedasetupsuchthatparticlescomingtothescreenwerenotfromapointlikesource,butfroma
sourcewithtwointensitymaxima.However,commentatorssuchasMotl[44]andSvensson[45]havepointedout
thatthereisinfactnoconflictbetweentheweakmeasurementsperformedinthisvariantofthedoubleslit
experimentandtheHeisenberguncertaintyprinciple.Weakmeasurementfollowedbypostselectiondidnot
allowsimultaneouspositionandmomentummeasurementsforeachindividualparticle,butratherallowed
measurementoftheaveragetrajectoryoftheparticlesthatarrivedatdifferentpositions.Inotherwords,the
experimenterswerecreatingastatisticalmapofthefulltrajectorylandscape.[45]

Othervariations

In1967,PfleegorandMandeldemonstratedtwosourceinterferenceusingtwoseparatelasersaslight
sources.[46][47]

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Itwasshownexperimentallyin1972thatinadoubleslitsystemwhereonlyoneslitwas
openatanytime,interferencewasnonethelessobservedprovidedthepathdifferencewas
suchthatthedetectedphotoncouldhavecomefromeitherslit.[48][49]Theexperimental
conditionsweresuchthatthephotondensityinthesystemwasmuchlessthanunity.

In1999,thedoubleslitexperimentwassuccessfullyperformedwithbuckyballmolecules Alaboratory
doubleslit
(eachofwhichcomprises60carbonatoms).[26][50]Abuckyballislargeenough(diameter
assembly
about0.7nm,nearlyhalfamilliontimeslargerthanaproton)tobeseenunderanelectron
distance
microscope.
betweentop
In2005,E.R.Elielpresentedanexperimentalandtheoreticalstudyoftheoptical posts
transmissionofathinmetalscreenperforatedbytwosubwavelengthslits,separatedby approximately
manyopticalwavelengths.Thetotalintensityofthefarfielddoubleslitpatternisshownto 2.5cm(one
inch).
bereducedorenhancedasafunctionofthewavelengthoftheincidentlightbeam.[51]

In2012,researchersattheUniversityofNebraskaLincolnperformed
thedoubleslitexperimentwithelectronsasdescribedbyRichard
Feynman,usingnewinstrumentsthatallowedcontrolofthe
transmissionofthetwoslitsandthemonitoringofsingleelectron
detectionevents.Electronswerefiredbyanelectrongunandpassed
throughoneortwoslitsof62nmwide4mtall.[52]
Nearfieldintensitydistribution
In2013,thedoubleslitexperimentwassuccessfullyperformedwith patternsforplasmonicslitswithequal
moleculesthateachcomprised810atoms(whosetotalmasswasover widths(A)andnonequalwidths(B).

10,000atomicmassunits).[13][14]

Hydrodynamicpilotwaveanalogs

Hydrodynamicanalogshavebeendevelopedthatcanrecreatevariousaspectsofquantummechanicalsystems,
includingsingleparticleinterferencethroughadoubleslit.[53]Asiliconeoildroplet,bouncingalongthesurface
ofaliquid,selfpropelsviaresonantinteractionswithitsownwavefield.Thedropletgentlysloshestheliquid
witheverybounce.Atthesametime,ripplesfrompastbouncesaffectitscourse.Thedropletsinteractionwith
itsownripples,whichformwhatisknownasapilotwave,causesittoexhibitbehaviorspreviouslythoughtto
bepeculiartoelementaryparticlesincludingbehaviorscustomarilytakenasevidencethatelementary
particlesarespreadthroughspacelikewaves,withoutanyspecificlocation,untiltheyaremeasured.[54][55]

Behaviorsmimickedviathishydrodynamicpilotwavesystemincludequantumsingleparticlediffraction,[56]
tunneling,quantizedorbits,orbitallevelsplitting,spin,andmultimodalstatistics.Itisalsopossibletoinfer
uncertaintyrelationsandexclusionprinciples.Ontheotherhand,nohydrodynamicanalogofentanglementhas
yetbeendeveloped.[53]Videosareavailableillustratingvariousfeaturesofthissystem.(SeetheExternallinks.)

Classicalwaveopticsformulation
Muchofthebehaviouroflightcanbemodelledusingclassicalwavetheory.TheHuygensFresnelprincipleis
onesuchmodelitstatesthateachpointonawavefrontgeneratesasecondarywavelet,andthatthedisturbance
atanysubsequentpointcanbefoundbysummingthecontributionsoftheindividualwaveletsatthatpoint.
Thissummationneedstotakeintoaccountthephaseaswellastheamplitudeoftheindividualwavelets.It
shouldbenotedthatonlytheintensityofalightfieldcanbemeasuredthisisproportionaltothesquareofthe
amplitude.

Inthedoubleslitexperiment,thetwoslitsareilluminatedbyasinglelaserbeam.Ifthewidthoftheslitsis
smallenough(lessthanthewavelengthofthelaserlight),theslitsdiffractthelightintocylindricalwaves.
Thesetwocylindricalwavefrontsaresuperimposed,andtheamplitude,andthereforetheintensity,atanypoint
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inthecombinedwavefrontsdependsonboththemagnitudeandthe
phaseofthetwowavefronts.Thedifferenceinphasebetweenthetwo
wavesisdeterminedbythedifferenceinthedistancetravelledbythe
twowaves.

Iftheviewingdistanceislargecomparedwiththeseparationoftheslits
(thefarfield),thephasedifferencecanbefoundusingthegeometry
showninthefigurebelowright.Thepathdifferencebetweentwowaves
travellingatanangleisgivenby:

Wheredisthedistancebetweenthetwoslits.Whenthetwowavesare
inphase,i.e.thepathdifferenceisequaltoanintegralnumberof Twoslitdiffractionpatternbyaplane
wavelengths,thesummedamplitude,andthereforethesummed wave
intensityismaximum,andwhentheyareinantiphase,i.e.thepath
differenceisequaltohalfawavelength,oneandahalfwavelengths,
etc.,thenthetwowavescancelandthesummedintensityiszero.This
effectisknownasinterference.Theinterferencefringemaximaoccurat
angles

whereisthewavelengthofthelight.Theangularspacingofthefringes,
f,isgivenby

Twoslitsareilluminatedbya
Thespacingofthefringesatadistancezfromtheslitsisgivenby planewave.

Forexample,iftwoslitsareseparatedby0.5mm(d),andareilluminatedwitha0.6mwavelengthlaser(),
thenatadistanceof1m(z),thespacingofthefringeswillbe1.2mm.

Ifthewidthoftheslitsbisgreaterthanthewavelength,theFraunhoferdiffractionequationgivestheintensity
ofthediffractedlightas:[57]

Wherethesincfunctionisdefinedassinc(x)=sin(x)/(x)forx0,andsinc(0)=1.

Thisisillustratedinthefigureabove,wherethefirstpatternisthediffractionpatternofasingleslit,givenby
thesincfunctioninthisequation,andthesecondfigureshowsthecombinedintensityofthelightdiffracted
fromthetwoslits,wherethecosfunctionrepresentthefinestructure,andthecoarserstructurerepresents
diffractionbytheindividualslitsasdescribedbythesincfunction.

SimilarcalculationsforthenearfieldcanbedoneusingtheFresneldiffractionequation.Astheplaneof
observationgetsclosertotheplaneinwhichtheslitsarelocated,thediffractionpatternsassociatedwitheach
slitdecreaseinsize,sothattheareainwhichinterferenceoccursisreduced,andmayvanishaltogetherwhen
thereisnooverlapinthetwodiffractedpatterns.[58]

Interpretationsoftheexperiment

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LiketheSchrdinger'scatthoughtexperiment,thedoubleslitexperimentisoftenusedtohighlightthe
differencesandsimilaritiesbetweenthevariousinterpretationsofquantummechanics.

Copenhageninterpretation

TheCopenhageninterpretation,putforthbysomeofthepioneersinthefieldofquantummechanics,asserts
thatitisundesirabletopositanythingthatgoesbeyondthemathematicalformulaeandthekindsofphysical
apparatusandreactionsthatenableustogainsomeknowledgeofwhatgoesonattheatomicscale.Oneofthe
mathematicalconstructsthatenablesexperimenterstopredictveryaccuratelycertainexperimentalresultsis
sometimescalledaprobabilitywave.Initsmathematicalformitisanalogoustothedescriptionofaphysical
wave,butits"crests"and"troughs"indicatelevelsofprobabilityfortheoccurrenceofcertainphenomena(e.g.,
asparkoflightatacertainpointonadetectorscreen)thatcanbeobservedinthemacroworldofordinary
humanexperience.

Theprobability"wave"canbesaidto"passthroughspace"becausetheprobabilityvaluesthatonecancompute
fromitsmathematicalrepresentationaredependentontime.Onecannotspeakofthelocationofanyparticle
suchasaphotonbetweenthetimeitisemittedandthetimeitisdetectedsimplybecauseinordertosaythat
somethingislocatedsomewhereatacertaintimeonehastodetectit.Therequirementfortheeventual
appearanceofaninterferencepatternisthatparticlesbeemitted,andthattherebeascreenwithatleasttwo
distinctpathsfortheparticletotakefromtheemittertothedetectionscreen.Experimentsobservenothing
whatsoeverbetweenthetimeofemissionoftheparticleanditsarrivalatthedetectionscreen.Ifaraytracingis
nextmadeasifalightwave(asunderstoodinclassicalphysics)iswideenoughtotakebothpaths,thenthatray
tracingwillaccuratelypredicttheappearanceofmaximaandminimaonthedetectorscreenwhenmany
particlespassthroughtheapparatusandgradually"paint"theexpectedinterferencepattern.

Pathintegralformulation

TheCopenhageninterpretationissimilartothepathintegralformulationof
quantummechanicsprovidedbyFeynman.Thepathintegralformulation
replacestheclassicalnotionofasingle,uniquetrajectoryforasystem,with
asumoverallpossibletrajectories.Thetrajectoriesareaddedtogetherby
usingfunctionalintegration.

Eachpathisconsideredequallylikely,andthuscontributesthesame
amount.However,thephaseofthiscontributionatanygivenpointalong
thepathisdeterminedbytheactionalongthepath:

Oneofaninfinitenumberof
Allthesecontributionsarethenaddedtogether,andthemagnitudeofthe equallylikelypathsusedinthe
finalresultissquared,togettheprobabilitydistributionforthepositionof Feynmanpathintegral.(seealso:
aparticle: Wienerprocess.)

Asisalwaysthecasewhencalculatingprobability,theresultsmustthenbenormalizedbyimposing:

Tosummarize,theprobabilitydistributionoftheoutcomeisthenormalizedsquareofthenormofthe
superposition,overallpathsfromthepointoforigintothefinalpoint,ofwavespropagatingproportionallyto
theactionalongeachpath.Thedifferencesinthecumulativeactionalongthedifferentpaths(andthusthe

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relativephasesofthecontributions)producestheinterferencepatternobservedbythedoubleslitexperiment.
Feynmanstressedthathisformulationismerelyamathematicaldescription,notanattempttodescribeareal
processthatwecanmeasure.

Relationalinterpretation

Accordingtotherelationalinterpretationofquantummechanics,firstproposedbyCarloRovelli,[59]
observationssuchasthoseinthedoubleslitexperimentresultspecificallyfromtheinteractionbetweenthe
observer(measuringdevice)andtheobjectbeingobserved(physicallyinteractedwith),notanyabsolute
propertypossessedbytheobject.Inthecaseofanelectron,ifitisinitially"observed"ataparticularslit,then
theobserverparticle(photonelectron)interactionincludesinformationabouttheelectron'sposition.This
partiallyconstrainstheparticle'seventuallocationatthescreen.Ifitis"observed"(measuredwithaphoton)not
ataparticularslitbutratheratthescreen,thenthereisno"whichpath"informationaspartoftheinteraction,so
theelectron's"observed"positiononthescreenisdeterminedstrictlybyitsprobabilityfunction.Thismakesthe
resultingpatternonthescreenthesameasifeachindividualelectronhadpassedthroughbothslits.Ithasalso
beensuggestedthatspaceanddistancethemselvesarerelational,andthatanelectroncanappeartobein"two
placesatonce"forexample,atbothslitsbecauseitsspatialrelationstoparticularpointsonthescreen
remainidenticalfrombothslitlocations.[60]

Manyworldsinterpretation

PhysicistDavidDeutscharguesinhisbookTheFabricofRealitythatthedoubleslitexperimentisevidencefor
themanyworldsinterpretation.

Seealso
Complementarity(physics) Quantumcoherence
Delayedchoicequantumeraser Schrdinger'scat
Dualpolarizationinterferometry Young'sinterferenceexperiment
ElitzurVaidmanbombtester Measurementproblem
Nslitinterferometer
Photonpolarization
Quantumcoherence
References

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performedadoubleslitinterferenceexperiment.
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ISBN0131343041.
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JournalofPhysics.44:306307.Bibcode:1976AmJPh..44..306M.doi:10.1119/1.10184.
22.Rosa,R(2012)."TheMerliMissiroliPozziTwoSlitElectronInterferenceExperiment".PhysicsinPerspective.14:
178195.Bibcode:2012PhP....14..178R.doi:10.1007/s0001601100790.
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p.90.ISBN0307428532.Extractofpage90(https://books.google.com/books?id=DNd2K6mxLpIC&pg=PA90)
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26.NewScientist:Quantumwonders:Corpusclesandbuckyballs,2010(http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2062759
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28.Nairz,OlafBrezger,BjrnArndt,MarkusAntonZeilinger,Abstract(2001)."DiffractionofComplexMoleculesby
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29.Nairz,OArndt,MZeilinger,A(2003)."Quantuminterferenceexperimentswithlargemolecules"(PDF).American
JournalofPhysics.71:319325.Bibcode:2003AmJPh..71..319N.doi:10.1119/1.1531580.
30.BrianGreene,TheElegantUniverse,p.104,pp.109114
31.Greene,Brian(2004).TheFabricoftheCosmos:Space,Time,andtheTextureofReality.Knopf.pp.204213.
ISBN0375412883.
32.Baggott,Jim(2011).TheQuantumStory:AHistoryin40Moments.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.pp.76.
("ThewavefunctionofasystemcontainingNparticlesdependson3Npositioncoordinatesandisafunctionina3N
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33.Harrison,David(2002)."ComplementarityandtheCopenhagenInterpretationofQuantumMechanics".UPSCALE.
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34.Cassidy,David(2008)."QuantumMechanics19251927:TriumphoftheCopenhagenInterpretation".Werner
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35.BoscDazPintado,MaraC.(2931March2007)."Updatingthewaveparticleduality".15thUKandEuropean
MeetingontheFoundationsofPhysics.Leeds,UK.Retrieved20080621.

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38.P.MittelstaedtA.PrieurR.Schieder(1987)."Unsharpparticlewavedualityinaphotonsplitbeamexperiment".
FoundationsofPhysics.17(9):891903.Bibcode:1987FoPh...17..891M.doi:10.1007/BF00734319.
39.D.M.GreenbergerandA.Yasin,"Simultaneouswaveandparticleknowledgeinaneutroninterferometer",Physics
LettersA128,3914(1988).
40.Wootters,W.K.Zurek,W.H.(1979)."Complementarityinthedoubleslitexperiment:Quantumnonseparabilityand
aquantitativestatementofBohr'sprinciple"(PDF).Phys.Rev.D.19(473484).Bibcode:1979PhRvD..19..473W.
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42.Chiao,R.Y.P.G.KwiatSteinberg,A.M.(1995)."QuantumnonlocalityintwophotonexperimentsatBerkeley".
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Furtherreading
AlKhalili,Jim(2003).Quantum:AGuideforthePerplexed.London:WeidenfeldandNicholson.
ISBN0297843052.
Feynman,RichardP.(1988).QED:TheStrangeTheoryofLightandMatter.PrincetonUniversityPress.
ISBN0691024170.
Frank,Philipp(1957).PhilosophyofScience.PrenticeHall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubleslit_experiment 10/12
10/19/2016 DoubleslitexperimentWikipedia

French,A.P.Taylor,EdwinF.(1978).AnIntroductiontoQuantumPhysics.Norton.ISBN039309106
6.
Quznetsov,Gunn(2011).FinalBookonFundamentalTheoreticalPhysics.AmericanResearchPress.
ISBN9781599731728.
Greene,Brian(2000).TheElegantUniverse.Vintage.ISBN0375708111.
Greene,Brian(2005).TheFabricoftheCosmos.Vintage.ISBN0375727205.
Gribbin,John(1999).QisforQuantum:ParticlePhysicsfromAtoZ.Weidenfeld&Nicolson.ISBN0
753806851.
Hey,Tony(2003).TheNewQuantumUniverse.CambridgeUniversityPress.ISBN0521564573.
Sears,FrancisWeston(1949).Optics.AddisonWesley.
Tipler,Paul(2004).PhysicsforScientistsandEngineers:Electricity,Magnetism,Light,andElementary
ModernPhysics(5thed.).W.H.Freeman.ISBN0716708108.

Externallinks
Interactiveanimations WikimediaCommonshas
mediarelatedtoDoubleslit
Huygensandinterference(http://www.acoustics.salford.ac.uk/fesc experiments.
hools/waves/diffract3.htm)

Singleparticleexperiments

WebsitewiththemovieandotherinformationfromthefirstsingleelectronexperimentbyMerli,
Missiroli,andPozzi.(http://lesperimentopiubellodellafisica.bo.imm.cnr.it/english/index.html)
Movieshowingsingleelectroneventsbuilduptoformaninterferencepatternindoubleslitexperiments.
Severalversionswithandwithoutnarration(Filesize=3.6to10.4MB)(MovieLength=1m8s)(http://
www.hitachi.com/rd/research/em/movie.html)
Freeviewvideo'ElectronWavesUnveiltheMicrocosmos'ARoyalInstitutionDiscoursebyAkira
TonomuraprovidedbytheVegaScienceTrust(http://www.vega.org.uk/video/programme/66)
HitachiwebsitethatprovidesbackgroundonTonomuravideoandlinktothevideo(http://www.hitachi.c
om/rd/research/em/doubleslit.html)

Hydrodynamicanalog
"Singleparticleinterferenceobservedformacroscopicobjects"(http://www.physorg.com/news7865051
1.html)
PilotWaveHydrodynamics:SupplementalVideo(http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/suppl/10.1146/annu
revfluid010814014506)
ThroughtheWormhole:YvesCouder.ExplainsWave/ParticleDualityviaSiliconDroplets(https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=W9yWv5dqSKk)

Computersimulations

Javademonstrationofdoubleslitexperiment,animated(http://www.falstad.com/ripple/ex2slit.html)
JavademonstrationofYoung'sdoubleslitinterference(http://vsg.quasihome.com/interf.htm)
AsimulationthatrunsinMathematicaPlayer,inwhichthenumberofquantumparticles,thefrequency
oftheparticles,andtheslitseparationcanbeindependentlyvaried(http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/
WaveParticleDualityInTheDoubleSlitExperiment/)

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