Quantum mechanics can be quite confusing with its claims of particles being waves and objects having simultaneous states of existence. However, with modern ideas of the quantum world, we can begin to envision what is really going on.
Classical particles, such as billiard balls, are objects with an identifiable location. They can interact by bouncing off each other or merging together. Classical waves, on the other hand, do not have a specific location. They interact by passing through each other, either enhancing or canceling each other’s effects.
Early physicists were puzzled by claims that subatomic objects, like electrons and photons, exhibited both particle and wave properties. However, it is now understood that these objects possess wave-particle duality, existing as both waves and particles simultaneously.
An electron, for example, can be visualized as a wave packet, which is a combination of a wave and a particle. The wave packet has a maximum amplitude at a specific location and decreases as you move away from it. This wave packet, also known as a wave function, is used to calculate probabilities of finding the particle at different locations.
In the framework of quantum field theory, the modern theory describing particles, space is filled with fields for each type of subatomic particle. An electron, for instance, is considered a wave packet in the electron field. The wave packet represents the probability of detecting an electron at a certain location.
This understanding of particles as localized vibrations in interacting fields gives us a different perspective on how particles are emitted and absorbed at the quantum level. When an electron emits a photon, vibrations in the electron field transfer to the photon field, creating a photon. It’s similar to two tuning forks vibrating when one is struck.
While these concepts may initially seem difficult to grasp, the idea that particles are localized vibrations in fields provides us with a reasonably accurate vision of the quantum world. It allows us to better understand the behavior of subatomic particles and shed light on the mysteries of quantum mechanics.
Sources:
– “Quantum Mechanics and Wave-Particle Duality” by Don Lincoln
– “Quantum mechanics and classical reality: Some modern views” by N.D. Mermin