An Investigation of Modern Physics by Brian Williams
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  • Physics in the News – Two Slit Interferometer.

    Posted on June 4th, 2011 Brian No comments

    From BBC News – 3 June 2011

    Quantum mechanics rule ‘bent’ in classic experiment

    By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News

    Water ripples
    Light can interfere with itself just as water ripples can add to or cancel one another

    Researchers have bent one of the most basic rules of quantum mechanics, a counterintuitive branch of physics that deals with atomic-scale interactions.

    Its “complementarity” rule asserts that it is impossible to observe light behaving as both a wave and a particle, though it is strictly both.

    In an experiment reported in Science, researchers have now done exactly that.

    They say the feat “pulls back the veil” on quantum reality in a way that was thought to be prohibited by theory.

    Quantum mechanics has spawned and continues to fuel spirited debates about the nature of what we can see and measure, and what nature keeps hidden – debates that often straddle the divide between the physical and the philosophical.

    For instance, a well-known rule called the Heisenberg uncertainty principle maintains that for some pairs of measurements, high precision in one necessarily reduces the precision that can be achieved in the other. [ This is not so. Brian]

    One embodiment of this idea lies in a “two-slit interferometer”, in which light can pass through one of two slits and is viewed on a screen.

    Let a number of the units of light called photons through the slits, and an interference pattern develops, like waves overlapping in a pond. However, keeping a close eye on which photons went through which slits – what may be termed a “strong measurement” – destroys the pattern. Etcetera, etcetera.

    ———————————————-

    More waffle from the physics establishment. This experimental information is covered in my book Physics or Fantasy – Section 1 – Light and Relativity.

    The experimental results obtained show that light functions strictly in accordance with normal fluid mechanics, and have nothing to do with quantum mechanics.  Just as in my experiments on colour, the main items of equipment in these experiments are the slits themselves. The significance of the ‘mechanics’ of the slits is totally ignored by the physicists, mainly due to their creed that mechanics cannot have anything to do with physics.

    Light is the ultimate  fluid.  People do not think of light as a fluid,  yet it functions like a fluid. The main difficulty is that light is so fluid it that it travels a lot faster than liquids or gases.  The main definition of a fluid is it takes the form of any shape that contains it.

    The speed at  which a fluid conforms to the shape of the  containing vessel determines  its fluidity. Treacle, Oil, Water, Dry Sand,  Oxygen, Hydrogen etcetera are all fluids. However, they all take  different amounts of time to fill any containment of them. They are also subject to to gravity and internal frictional forces. Light is  only very, very little affected by gravity, and is only affected by external friction, again, only in a very small way. The slit experiments demonstrate the effects of friction on light.

    However, do not expect to put light into a bottle, put a stopper in and use it later. Once light is stopped, its energy is dissipated. The particles (Or if you are a physicist, wavy lines) are still there but have lost their energy. The particles have to have a certain speed to be detected by the eye as ‘light’. Below this speed they cannot trigger the eye/brain receptors.

    The experiments are explained in simple language.

    See also

    How Physicists “Find” their Particles

    The Full Mathematics of the Michelson – Morley Experiment

     

    58 responses to “Physics in the News – Two Slit Interferometer.”

    1. Maynard Torry

      Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading through your blog posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same subjects? Thanks a ton!
      ————————
      If you could find it somewhere else I wouldn’t bother putting it on my web site.
      Brian

    2. Ayesha Adelblue

      You have proven that you are qualified to write on this topic. The facts that you mention and the knowledge and understanding of these things clearly reveal that you have a lot of experience.

    3. Altha Ramos

      I came to this forum to gather and ask for informations regarding this subject. I find this website material very nice and informative.

    4. Can anyone please tell me why my postings on this forum is disappearing all the time. I have posted 3 times and they are all gone. Was it too long or what?
      ————————-
      Charity, There are various possibilities.
      1. My spam filter may have identified your comment as Spam.
      2. You may have just copied someone else’s comment. I remember most comments.
      3. As I get about 900-1000 comments/day, if I am having a bad day I may have deleted the whole lot without checking, (not usual).
      4. If the comment is headed with a trading brand or name it is deleted normally.
      5. Obviously fake e-mail addresses are deleted.
      6. Certain URLs are deleted.
      7. Comments not in English are deleted. I only speak English, my web site is in English and if the sender has actually read and understood the particular post they would have been able to comment in English. Translating comments takes a long time and usually ends up as one of the previous types.
      8. All comments that I consider possible, are copied into a text only file on a separate computer, to check for bugs and viruses. This takes time.
      9. I may just have missed it.

      Regards
      Brian

    5. Sarai Lords

      I am sure there are many visitors who are copying this article and posting same on social networks. They can at least give credit to the author

    6. oops, i read this post a bit late, just submitted my assignment last week and am sure it would have been better assignment if i had come to this website earlier. What a pity. Thanks anyway.

    7. mario smithies/Wikipedia

      I absolutely love your site.. Very nice colors theme. Did you make this amnazing site yourself? Please reply back as I’m trying to create my own personal log and want to find out where you got this from or exactly what the theme is named.
      Many thanks!
      ——————
      Mario, the site design is entirely my own using one of WordPress ‘Gears’themes as a base. I’m sorry i can’t remember which on I used, it’s so long since.
      Brian

    8. To see a sequence of diffraction patterns from single and double slits, you must click on the image at the top of the news article. Sorry if that wasn’t clear. Hamish.
      _________________________
      Hamish. The diffraction patterns are not caused by hypothetical wave nature of light but by the mechanics of apertures, part of fluid mechanics. This was fully explained in by first book. I will be adding a post shortly on this.

      Brian

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