Wave–Particle Duality
Wave–Particle Duality
Term of the Day:
Wave–particle duality
Greek: Δυαδική φύση κύματος–σωματιδίου
What does it mean? In Quantum Physics, a photon (light particle) — or even an electron — is not only a particle, nor only a wave. It is both at once, depending on how you observe it.
Famous Experiment: Double-slit experiment When you send individual photons toward a screen with two slits, they don’t act like particles forming two lines. Instead, they create an interference pattern — as if they were waves interfering with each other.
But if you observe which slit they go through, they suddenly behave like particles!
So: The way you observe affects what “is”
Echo from the Ancients
Matter in quantum reality behaves just like this: It isn’t either/or. It is both/and.
The photon is a wave. It is a particle.
