Quantitative complementarity of wave-particle duality

Untangling wave-particle duality

27 November 2021

The source of a photon affects how much it will exhibit particle-like or wave-like behaviour.

One of the most intriguing aspects of quantum physics is that quantum entities such as electrons and photons exhibit two complementary behaviours — particle like and wave like — depending on the situation.

Now, a researcher from the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea and a collaborator have constructed an experimental setup for quantitatively investigating the complementary nature of wave–particle duality.

Their experiment involved shining two laser beams onto two identical optical crystals, which produced four photons: two of the photons (‘signal’ photons) are interfered to determined their wave-like nature, while the other two photons (‘idler’ photons) are used to determine their particle-like nature.

Using this setup, the researchers confirmed previously derived theoretical descriptions. They consider that the system is an ideal tool for probing wave–particle duality.

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References

1. Science Advances 7, eabi9268 (2021). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abi9268