Abstract
Philosophers of science are inclined to think that wave–particle duality is an obsolete concept, because according to quantum mechanics there are neither waves nor particles in a classical sense. But in physical practice, wave–particle duality is alive. The concept is crucial in order to understand the recent which-way experiments of quantum optics. First, several aspects of the concept will be sketched. Then I explain why the experimenters say that they prepare waves but detect particles. Indeed, their pragmatic attitude helps to understand a prominent thought experiment of Scully, Englert and Walther and the which-way experiments that realised it. Finally, I discuss a simple polarizer experiment. The experiment shows that no realistic interpretation of particles can cope with wave–particle duality, whereas the causal relevance of the quantum waves can not be denied.
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Notes
- 1.
In Falkenburg (2007), the argument is presented in more detail.
- 2.
Born (1926b, 803). My translation.
- 3.
See Jammer (1966, 41).
- 4.
- 5.
Bohr (1949).
- 6.
Feynman et al. (1965, 1–4 to 1–9).
- 7.
In addition, the quantum state is not particle-like because the photon number is not well-defined. See below Section 4.4.
- 8.
Scully et al. (1991, 111).
- 9.
See Falkenburg (2007, pp. 296–305).
- 10.
See Hacking (1983, 22–25).
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Falkenburg, B. (2010). Wave–Particle Duality in Quantum Optics. In: Suárez, M., Dorato, M., Rédei, M. (eds) EPSA Philosophical Issues in the Sciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3252-2_4
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