What’s really going on with Wave-Particle Duality?
This mind-bending concept sits at the very heart of quantum physics and continues to perplex even seasoned scientists. In a fascinating discussion, Neil deGrasse Tyson and astrophysicist Charles Liu explore why it challenges our everyday understanding of reality. They unpack foundational elements like the de Broglie Relation, which introduced the revolutionary idea that particles such as electrons possess wave-like properties, and the famous Double Slit Experiment, which revealed that observing a particle can fundamentally change its behavior—from acting like a wave to acting like a particle.
This duality defies classical logic, making it deeply unintuitive for most people. After all, how can something be both a localized particle and a delocalized wave depending on how it’s measured? The conversation also touches on the term “wavicle,” coined in an attempt to merge these two aspects into one word—but it never quite gained traction in scientific circles. Why? Because while the term is catchy, it oversimplifies the nuanced, probabilistic nature of quantum behavior and doesn’t quite do justice to the profound mystery at the core of quantum mechanics.
Find out More
