Double Slit Experiment

[ste20man]

Hi. 

 

I am really new to physics but came across the double slit experiment and found it incredibly interesting.

 

I know that even the greatest minds have trouble explaining this so I don't hold out much hope for myself! :)

 

What I am asking is, what would a novice have to learn / understand to be able to talk about this at a decent level.

 

Is there many smaller concepts that are needed to be understood before youu can communicate ideas about this.

 

It's absolutely fascinating, I would just like to try and get a small grasp on the overall ideas.

 

It seems so counter intuitive to me.

 

I am just wondering if I should just hang up my spurs before I even start off!

 

Thanks for any advice you guys can give me,

 

All the best,

 

Ste.

[exchemist]

Hi. 

 

I am really new to physics but came across the double slit experiment and found it incredibly interesting.

 

I know that even the greatest minds have trouble explaining this so I don't hold out much hope for myself! :)

 

What I am asking is, what would a novice have to learn / understand to be able to talk about this at a decent level.

 

Is there many smaller concepts that are needed to be understood before youu can communicate ideas about this.

 

It's absolutely fascinating, I would just like to try and get a small grasp on the overall ideas.

 

It seems so counter intuitive to me.

 

I am just wondering if I should just hang up my spurs before I even start off!

 

Thanks for any advice you guys can give me,

 

All the best,

 

Ste.

Learn a bit about waves, especially how diffraction works. Once you have that straight you should be able at least to follow what the experiment shows.

[ralfcis]

Yeah go read everything you can. Typical answer on a physics forum. But here's a real answer.

 

The rules of quantum physics state for every field or wave there is a particle. That's why they spend billions on colliders to prove this and so far it has proven true. So light is both a wave whose particle is the photon. Another rule of quantum physics is you can't simultaneously know information on the position of the particle and it's movement. Any attempt to detect where the photon is will stop and collapse the movement and area of the wave into a single stationary point which is what the detector screen does in the double slit experiment. So it's a moving wave that enters the double slit, exits as an interfered wave and it causes an interference pattern on the detector. That pattern is comprised of the detection and collapse into photons of the interference pattern wave. But if you try to detect photons going into the double slit, you are collapsing the wave at the input and it can't cause an interference pattern at the far end detector. Since the act of detection at the slit does not stop the movement of the photons through a single slit, they exit as a single wave which looks like a bell curve distributed pile of photons at the far detector. Everyone has a different answer.