Physics: Wave–particle duality

Wave–particle duality Wave–particle duality is the concept in quantum mechanics that fundamental entities of the universe, like photons and electrons, exhibit particle or wave properties according to the experimental circumstances.

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Wave–particle duality Wave–particle duality is the concept in quantum mechanics that fundamental entities of the universe, like photons and electrons, exhibit particle or wave properties according to the experimental circumstances.

Commentary

Why does Wave–particle duality matter? This princ iple is one of the building blocks physicists use to explain the world. Without it, a whole class of phenomena would have no mathematical description. Engineers, chemists, and astronomers all rely on it.

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Background: Wave–particle duality Wave–particle duality is the concept in quantum mechanics that fundamental entities of the universe, lik e photons and electrons, exhibit particle or wave properties according to the experimental circumstances. It expresses the inability of the classical concepts such as particle or wave to fully describe the behavior of quantum objects. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, light was found to behave as a wave, then later was discovered to have a particle-like behavior, whereas electrons behaved like particles in early experiments, then later were discovered to have wave-like behavior. The concept of duality arose to name these seeming contradictions.